Lebanon: Hezbollah expects parliamentary election on time

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has said it expects the Mediterranean country’s parliamentary election to be held on time in May, days after former Lebanese prime minister Saad al-Hariri said he will not run in the election.

“All indications are that the parliamentary election will take place on time,” Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, said in a speech on Sunday, according to Lebanon's al-Manar television network.

“There is no development that prevents these elections from taking place,” he added.

The Hezbollah official emphasized that the upcoming parliamentary election will be an important chance for the Lebanese people to express their opinions, adding that Hezbollah started preparing for the election four months ago.

Last Monday, Hariri said in a televised address that he saw no chance for a positive future for Lebanon “in light of international disarray, national division, sectarianism, and the collapse of the state.”

The leading Sunni Muslim politician said he was suspending his role in power, politics, and parliament, urging members of his political party to do the same.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's President Michel Aoun said on Saturday he saw no reason for an election delay.

Elsewhere in his Sunday remarks, Sheikh Qassem stressed that “we are committed to holding the election and are enthusiastic about it.”

He described the Lebanese resistance movement as a “necessity,” saying the resistance is the basis of the existence of a sovereign, free, and independent Lebanon.

Sheikh Qassem pointed out that “this resistance is not a future project, but rather an existing situation that liberated and gave Lebanon its status.”

“Those who reject the resistance are putting Lebanon in a state of surrender and subordination to the interest of Israel,” the Hezbollah official added.

“We are working to achieve the recovery plan through the Lebanese government, to be a starting point for restoring the financial, economic, and social balance,” Sheikh Qassem added.

SS