Hezbollah bloc rejects electoral changes, warns of US pressure
3 Min Read
Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc rejects disputed electoral amendments, defends Speaker Berri, and warns of US financial pressures.
-
Lebanese lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah leaves the parliament building after he attends a parliament session in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, June 14, 2023 (AP)
The Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc expressed firm opposition on Thursday to what it described as repeated attempts to undermine Lebanon’s formula of coexistence, which it said is “clearly stipulated in the preamble of the Constitution” but is being violated through decisions “that do not enjoy national consensus.”
In its statement, the bloc said the latest example was the “non-consensual vote on amendments to the electoral law.” It reaffirmed its commitment to holding parliamentary elections within their constitutional timeframe, calling on the Lebanese government to “fulfill its duty to implement the existing law and issue the necessary decrees enabling expatriates to elect their representatives abroad.”
The bloc stressed that attempts by certain parties to alter the electoral law “have nothing to do with the interests of the country or its expatriates.”
Defense of Speaker Nabih Berri
The bloc also condemned what it called a coordinated campaign targeting the leadership of the Lebanese Parliament through “incitement and attacks on the national role carried out by Speaker Nabih Berri.”
It said Berri performs this role “within the framework of his constitutional powers, and out of his concern for holding elections on time and applying the current electoral law.”
The bloc declared its alignment with Berri and the Amal Movement’s Development and Liberation bloc, rejecting “any attempt to overthrow him, undermine national balance, or isolate a major sect, the Shiite community, and a fundamental component of the country.”
US financial pressure 'extension of Israeli war'
The bloc also addressed the recent visit of a joint delegation from the US National Security Council and the Treasury Department to Beirut, saying the measures being conveyed to Lebanese officials are “an extension of the Israeli war on Lebanon.”
It added that Washington’s efforts to tighten financial restrictions on Lebanon, aimed at hindering reconstruction and pressuring the population and the state, are “condemned and rejected, and fall within a framework of imposing financial guardianship and unlawfully controlling the work of the official and private financial sectors.”
Any Lebanese compliance with US pressure, the bloc warned, would constitute “a relinquishment of sovereignty, a contestation of the Constitution, a violation of the law, and a threat to stability.”
Call for action against Israeli violations
Turning to border developments, the bloc said Lebanon’s top national priority must be the state’s responsibility to protect its citizens, who are being killed by the Israeli occupation, which it said is “continuing to violate the ceasefire agreement and escalating its daily assaults.”
This situation, it added, requires “exerting every possible effort and using every available option with the sponsors of the ceasefire, compelling the oversight committee to impose measures to halt fire, condemn the enemy, and rein in its violations as stipulated by the agreement.”
The bloc also cautioned against political exploitation of ongoing attacks, warning of “capitalizing on the enemy’s crimes to serve its objectives on one hand, and to achieve vile factional interests on the other, at the expense of Lebanon, its sovereignty, and its national dignity.”
