Report: Concerns over Iraq-Like Parliamentary Legalization of Hizbullah Forces

Concerns have surfaced that Hizbullah might be seeking an electoral law that allows it and its allies to take the parliamentary majority in a manner that would enable them to legalize Hizbullah's presence as a paramilitary force, a media report said on Sunday.

“The ministers of the Lebanese Forces have been the most concerned over how to deal with the issue of the resistance in the policy statement and the calls for an electoral law fully based on proportional representation,” the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying.

“Some circles have concerns that there are efforts to seize control of parliament, in the vein of what happened in the government, in a manner similar to the situation in Iraq,” the sources added, referring to the Iraqi parliament's legalization of the Shiite-led Popular Mobilization Forces.

On November 26, the Iraqi parliament passed a bill recognizing the PMF, also known as Hashed al-Shaabi, as a government entity operating alongside the military.

LF's ministers had on Saturday voiced reservations over a clause pertaining to resistance against Israel in the policy statement of the new government.