Hezbollah is open to discussing a "new political pact” in Lebanon, proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron, the head of the powerful pro-Iranian group, Hassan Nasrallah, said on Sunday.
"France’s president, on his last visit to Lebanon, called for a new political pact,” Nasrallah said in a speech. “We are open to any constructive discussion on the issue (…) on condition that it takes place with agreement from all the Lebanese parties,” he added.
He did not say what changes his movement was open to considering but noted that he had heard criticisms by official French sources of the Lebanese sectarian system and its inability to resolve Lebanon’s problems.
During a visit to Beirut on 6 August, two days after the powerful explosion that devastated much of the city's port, Macron said he would propose a “new political pact” to the country’s political forces, with necessary reforms. Without these reforms, he said, Lebanon would continue to go under.
The French president is scheduled to return to Beirut on Monday and meet representatives of the country’s main political parties, including Hezbollah, on Tuesday.
Consultations are to be held between the Lebanese political forces on Monday to designate a new Prime Minister following the resignation of Hassan Diab one week after the deadly blast.
Nasrallah said Hezbollah would be “cooperative” on this issue, but so far political divisions have blocked an agreement on the choice of the new head of government.
The Hezbollah leader cast doubts on the legitimacy of the grassroot contestation movement calling for political change, stressing that he heads the “biggest political party in Lebanon.”
“Can we consider the demands of some hundreds of demonstrators to express the will of the Lebanese people,” Nasrallah said.
The Brussels Times
