Phalange: Govt. Jeopardizing Elections due to its Refusal to Resign in Favor of Salvation Cabinet

The Phalange Party stressed on Monday the importance of the current contacts between Speaker Nabih Berri and the March 14 opposition in order to reactivate efforts to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law.

It added in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “We hold the government responsible for jeopardizing the parliamentary elections and agreement on a new law due to its refusal to resign to pave the way for a salvation cabinet.”

The Phalange Party has repeatedly demanded the resignation of the government in order for a salvation cabinet be formed that would be able to oversee the elections and resolve pending disputes.

Commenting on the blast that took place in the southern town of Tairharfa on Monday, the Phalange Party said: “The explosion reveals the persistence of the problem of the possession of arms in Lebanon.”

It also reveals that United Nations Security Council resolution 1701 is not being implemented given that it demonstrates that the region south of the Litani River is not devoid of weapons.

Furthermore, the manner in which Hizbullah reacted in light of the explosion “poses a new challenge to the authority of the Lebanese army and U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, which demands the resumption of efforts to resolve the conundrum of the illegal possession of arms,” it added.

An explosion at a suspected Hizbullah munitions depot shook the outskirts of the town of Tairharfa at dawn Monday, causing material damage only, media reports said.

According to the reports, the blast went of in an abandoned henhouse belonging to a man from the Haidar family. They said it was used as a storage facility for arms and ammunition.

Commenting on the Syrian arrest warrants against former Premier Saad Hariri, Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr, and Syrian opposition member Louay al-Meqdad, the Phalange Party deemed the warrants as a “provocative.”

“It is clear that they are aimed at diverting attention away from the investigations in the case of former Minister Michel Samaha and Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk,” it stated.

The party questioned the position of the government and its “ignoring of the arrogant Syrian action that has targeted Lebanese leaderships.”

“The party does however recognize Prime Minister Najib Miqati's condemnation of the arrest warrants,” it added.

Moreover, the Phalange Party called on the government to follow Interpol's example and announce its rejection of the warrants.

“The party calls on Hariri to return to Lebanon in order to continue the achievements of the Cedar revolution,” it stressed.

Samaha was arrested in August on charges of forming a criminal gang in Lebanon at Syria's behest.

Mamlouk and a Syrian colonel identified only by the name of Adnan have also been charged in the case.

Addressing the meeting of the Chinese, Syrian, Russian, and Iranian ambassadors to Lebanon at the latter's residence on Friday, the politburo said: “The meeting is a foreign attempt to drag Lebanon towards the Syrian crisis.”

“The concerned ambassadors could have convened in Damascus instead of Beirut, which will not be employed for regional or international agendas,” it remarked.

It therefore called on the government to summon the ambassadors and file a complaint against their actions that disregarded Lebanon's critical situation and its popular and political divisions.

The meeting even disregarded the government's policy of disassociation from the Syrian crisis, it noted.