Hussein Dakroub|
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Tuesday urged Hezbollah and its March 8 allies to end their boycott of Parliament sessions, in the second such plea in two days, stressing that only the swift election of a new president would put Lebanon on the right track.
“We have a democratic system in Lebanon and a democratic game. There are three candidates. This is why we should all go to Parliament and elect a president and let one of those win, and we will congratulate him, whoever he is,” Hariri told reporters after meeting with several officials and foreign ambassadors at his Downtown Beirut residence.
Hariri’s talks with his visitors on the third day since his Sunday return to Beirut to attend the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former premier Rafik Hariri, have centered on ways to break the 21-month-long presidential deadlock.
Hariri said that the most important thing the Lebanese should work to achieve is the presidential election. “The election of a new president is the only thing that would put Lebanon on the right track.”
Speaker Nabih Berri expressed satisfaction with Hariri’s return to Beirut, saying it would help “revive political activity and tackle issues under discussion.”
Asked to comment on the possibility of convening a Parliament session during which one of the three candidates – MPs Michel Aoun, Sleiman Frangieh and Henri Helou – would be elected president in light of Hariri’s remarks and similar comments by MP Walid Jumblatt, Berri was quoted as saying by visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence: “I have also said the same thing recently. It is normal to say it.”
Hariri said that he doesn’t want to accuse Hezbollah of seeking to prolong the presidential vacuum, but that ultimately the March 8 party was obstructing the vote. “We should not say that Hezbollah does not want a president to be elected. In my opinion, it is stalling and taking its time,” he said.
Last week, Parliament failed in its 35th attempt to elect a president over a lack of quorum, prompting Berri to schedule a new session for March 2.
In a speech at the commemoration of his father’s assassination, taking place at the BIEL complex Sunday, Hariri said he is committed to ending the presidential vacuum, and called on MPs to go to Parliament to elect one of three candidates: Frangieh, Aoun or Helou, as president. He also blasted Hezbollah’s military involvement in the 5-year-old war in Syria.
Significantly, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah did not touch on any internal topics in a speech televised Tuesday marking the party’s “Martyred Leaders’ Day.” He did not mention the presidential election nor did he respond to Hariri’s diatribe against the party.
During his meeting with journalists, Hariri defended his support for Frangieh’s candidacy for the presidency as well as Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea’s decision to endorse his war-time foe, Aoun, for the country’s top Christian post.
He praised as “a positive thing” last month’s historic reconciliation between Geagea and Aoun during which the former announced his endorsement of the Free Patriotic Movement founder’s candidacy.“We believe that it is the constitutional right of Dr. Geagea to nominate whomever he wants for the presidency, as we are free to nominate whomever we want,” Hariri said. “There must be realism and balance in the country, and let everyone remember that there was no talk of the presidential election before I took my initiative.”
Frangieh’s nomination for the presidency followed his landmark meeting with Hariri at the latter’s residence in Paris in November as part of an internationally backed initiative launched by Hariri to end the presidential vacuum and revive the work of the government and Parliament. Hariri announced publicly for the first time Monday his commitment to supporting Frangieh’s candidacy, thus dismissing the possibility of backing Aoun.
Hariri’s comments came one day after he unexpectedly met with Geagea at his north Lebanon residence in Maarab, clearing the air between the two sides following differences over the presidency and a comment by the former premier on inter-Christian reconciliation.
Also Tuesday, Hariri chaired the weekly meeting of his parliamentary Future bloc which said in a statement that his return to Lebanon was essential to reunite a March 14 coalition riven by differences over the presidency.
“First, [Hariri’s] return contributes to restoring the unity of the March 14 parties. Second, it powerfully contributes to restoring the priority of ending the presidential vacancy and the need for serious action by all Lebanese political parties to end the dangerous vacancy that has lasted nearly two years with the continuation of its negative repercussions on all national, political, security, economic and living levels,” the statement said.
“In addition, his return and the national implications it carries, which were expressed by [former] premier Hariri in his speech at BIEL, has revived hopes to reactivate the constitutional institutions and the rest of the Lebanese state institutions,” it said. “There is an urgent need to restore respect for the text and spirit of the Taif Accord and the National Pact, and for the constitutional foundations upheld by the Lebanese.”
The bloc confirmed its adherence to Hariri’ call on all MPs to attend Parliament sessions “in order to exercise the constitutional and normal right and duty of the MPs in the election of a president.”
It added that Hariri’s return launches “a new stage for the settlement of divisive issues within the March 14 coalition, a grouping that launched the independence uprising.”
Rival March 8 and March 14 leaders are scheduled to meet Wednesday in a new national dialogue session at Berri’s Ain al-Tineh residence, likely to focus on the presidential election and reactivating the government.
Meanwhile, Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc reiterated its opposition to what it called “Christian political marginalization,” an issue that took center stage earlier this month when Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil was accused of replacing a Christian staff member with a Shiite Muslim.
“Is there more marginalization than that affecting the Christians in Lebanon after they spoke out over the presidency? Where is the will of 86 percent of the Christians? Do the limits of marginalization end when it comes to Christians?” MP Ibrahim Kanaan told reporters after the bloc’s weekly meeting chaired by Aoun at his residence in Rabieh, north of Beirut. “We reject any hegemony over us. The Christians are not followers, but full partners in power.”
