Mustaqbal Warns of Return to 1998 Era, Urges Dissociation after Soleimani Killing

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday warned of a perceived attempt to “repeat the experience of the year 1998 and its spiteful policies.”

The bloc’s warning refers to the year in which Rafik Hariri was replaced as premier by Salim al-Hoss during Emile Lahoud’s term as president.

“The endorsed course in finding solutions for the political and economic crises, including the government formation crisis, is a course that revolves in empty cycles and strongly disregards the changes that the country witnessed after the October 17 uprising,” Mustaqbal said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

“The bloc warns of the reported attempts to once again seize the one-third veto power” in Cabinet, the statement said, adding that “parties from the (Syrian) tutelage era are interfering in the formation process and are suggesting candidates whose security and political backgrounds are well-known.”

“This indicates the presence of growing plots to repeat the experience of the year 1998 and its spiteful policies,” the bloc cautioned.

Commenting on the U.S. assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and its feared repercussions, Mustaqbal stressed that Lebanon should “dissociate” itself and “refrain from interfering in foreign conflicts.”

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had hinted Sunday that his group might take part in attacks to avenge Soleimani.

“There is a responsibility on the shoulders of the axis of resistance to retaliate… Qassem Soleimani is not a purely Iranian affair, Qassem Soleimani concerns Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan and every country,” said Nasrallah.