Geagea accuses government of showing no determination to disarm Hezbollah

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has lamented that the Lebanese government has shown “no perseverance” and “no determination” to disarm Hezbollah.

“There is no determination. There is no clearness, there is no perseverance. From time to time, there are some declarations, and everybody knows that these declarations are like empty declarations,” Geagea said in English in an interview with the UAE’s The National newspaper.

He said most of the government was not being “serious” over Hezbollah's weapons and lacked the political will, although he absolved the four LF ministers and a handful of other similarly-minded cabinet members.

“They don't want to take big decisions, clear decisions, even though the government took a big decision on August 5 and 7. Ok, but it fell short of applying any of these decisions or fulfilling any of these decisions,” Geagea added.

He contrasted the optimism in January, when President Joseph Aoun was elected and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam began forming a government, both backed by the Lebanese Forces, with the current mood.

At the time, Geagea said there was clear “political will, political declaration, [and] political determination,” referring to the two leaders’ early pledges that all weapons would be brought under state control.

He stated that the government should have stood firm on that commitment, despite the risk of igniting civil unrest, instead of retreating after Hezbollah officials immediately rejected the move.

“At this point, the government should have been very clear and very adamant. The government should have called them and told them, you cannot … You are against the law.”

He said Lebanon was “stuck” and would remain “stuck until we sink” unless Hezbollah handed over its weapons and the country improved co-ordination with the U.S. and Arab states, particularly in the Gulf.

Geagea warned Lebanon was at risk of being left behind in a rapidly changing region – something foreign envoys have often warned – because of the impasse.

“Lebanon right now, frankly, and in a very transparent way, is starting to lag behind. Because the overall strategic direction in the area is in one direction, and the authorities in Lebanon are losing time in bickering here and there and in small schemes that lead to nowhere,” Geagea said.

“And the proof of it is that the President of Syria is in the United States, in the White House, the President of Lebanon is in Bulgaria, with all due respect, of course, to Bulgaria, I'm talking about international influence,” he added.

Geagea said Lebanon did not have to face a binary choice between another Israeli war or a new civil war. But avoiding both, he warned, required far greater resolve from a government already under intense external pressure and grappling with a deep economic crisis.