{"id":3896,"date":"2022-08-10T16:07:51","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T10:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/?p=3896"},"modified":"2022-08-11T00:01:27","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T18:01:27","slug":"nasrallah-speech-sparks-fears-of-power-vacuum-in-lebanon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/world\/2022\/08\/10\/news\/3896\/","title":{"rendered":"Nasrallah speech sparks fears of power vacuum in Lebanon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Monday, a meeting was held between 16 MPs from the Force of change bloc, along with a number of other independent and opposition MPs to \u2018agree on a legislative agenda.\u2019 (AFP\/File)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BEIRUT, Broadcasting News Corporation : Doubts were cast over the upcoming presidential election in Lebanon later this year, after Hezbollah\u2019s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah called on Lebanese officials \u201cto form a government that enjoys its full powers to assume its responsibilities, whether or not a new president is elected,\u201d on Tuesday. It was the first time Nasrallah mentioned publicly the possibility of not holding the presidential elections, raising fears of a political vacuum in the crisis-stricken country, similar to that which preceded President Michel Aoun\u2019s election in 2016, and which lasted over two years. Prime Minister Najib Mikati was tasked on June 23 with forming a new Cabinet, which he presented to Aoun after parliamentary elections last May. However, Makati\u2019s lineup did not satisfy Aoun, who said the prime minister\u2019s choices undermined him. Communication between the two has been fraught since then, and all attempts to revive forming a government have stalled. Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri said in a statement he thought a resolution to the impasse at this stage would require \u201ca miracle.\u201d As things stand, on Sept. 1, Parliament will turn into the elective body of the office of the president, with several rounds of voting set to take place to appoint a new head of state. Ali Darwish, a member of Lebanon\u2019s Parliament, told Arab News: \u201cEach party has the right to express its opinion on the next political phase the way it deems convenient. Certainly, a government enjoying its full powers is better than a caretaker government. It is a sound demand because a government enjoying its full powers can take decisions. \u201cWe want these elections to take place, just like other events \u2014 electing a new Parliament, and tasking the prime minister with the formation of a new government \u2014 to be carried out on time. Electing a new president for the country provides stability.\u201d On Monday, a meeting was held between 16 MPs from the Force of Change bloc, along with a number of other independent and opposition MPs. The stated objective of the meeting was to \u201chold discussions in order to agree on a legislative agenda and coordinate on future duties, such as approving the general budget, the financial reform plan and the legislations necessary for the country.\u201d However, political observers believe the meeting was an early move to identify a candidate to replace Aoun.
\nIf these MPs were able to attract other moderate colleagues, they could form a significant force in Parliament opposing Hezbollah and its allies, potentially preventing a candidate aligned with Hezbollah from being elected president. Darwish said: \u201cWhat happened in Parliament last Monday serves the democratic game and the country\u2019s interest, and we approve of it. We do not favor confrontational diversity, as we are in a crucial phase of the economic crisis we are facing and we need everyone\u2019s solidarity. \u201cEvery political party in Lebanon has its own agenda. I hope the presidential elections will be held on time and the democratic game will be fully reflected.\u201d He added: \u201cComplex files are awaiting the next president, such as the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund, the approval of an economic recovery plan, the restructuring of the public sector, and the maritime border demarcation, which requires a complete ruling system.\u201d Lebanese Forces MP Fadi Karam told Arab News: \u201cThrough his speech, Nasrallah insists on keeping the state incapacitated and paralyzed, so Hezbollah can impose its conditions on everyone.\u201d Karam said the meeting was \u201ca positive event, and an attempt to unify the opposition in the face of Hezbollah, so we can have a majority that represents the people and faces (down) Hezbollah\u2019s plan.\u201d Hadi Abou El-Hassan of the Progressive Socialist Party said: \u201cThe parliamentary elections didn\u2019t limit decision-making to one party. This allows settlement and agreement on broad topics.\u201d
\nHe added: \u201cAs a patriotic Lebanese, I can\u2019t link the fate of a country to the fate of Iran, but everyone knows that Lebanon isn\u2019t independent in its decision-making.\u201d News collected from ARAB NEWS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT, Broadcasting News Corporation : Doubts were cast over the upcoming presidential election in Lebanon later this year, after Hezbollah\u2019s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah called on Lebanese officials \u201cto form a government that enjoys its full powers to assume its responsibilities, whether or not a new president is elected,\u201d on Tuesday. It was the first time …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3896"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3898,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3896\/revisions\/3898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnc24.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}