Nasrallah Urges Fast Formation of 'Sovereign Govt.', Says 'Strife, Political Coup' Foiled
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday urged the formation of a “sovereign government” within “days,” as he noted the Lebanese have managed to foil a “strife” scheme and a “political coup” attempt.
“We call for dialogue and communication between all components and the protest movement's representatives,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
“We must speak of the American role that is preventing Lebanon from overcoming its current situation,” Nasrallah said, calling for the formation of a “truly sovereign government in which all components would play their national role” and stressing that “none of its components should contact the U.S. embassy or another embassy before taking decisions.”
Adding that the new government should be formed in the “coming days,” Nasrallah urged the Lebanese to “cooperate” in this regard.
“Should the caretaking period protract, this means that there will be no government to address the economic situations and people’s demands will be lost,” Nasrallah warned.
“We have the brains, experts and human capabilities” to form a “sovereign government” that can “improve our situations,” Hizbullah’s secretary general said.
He added: “The new cabinet must heed the demands of the people who took to the streets, devise a program to fulfill their demands, and regain their confidence.”
Commenting on Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation, Nasrallah said: “We did not support this resignation but the premier took this decision and he has his reasons but I don't want to discuss these reasons now.”
“The positive shock that should have been offered to the people should have been ‘night and day emergency cabinet sessions’ in order to refer the draft law on recovering looted funds to parliament,” Nasrallah added, referring to Hariri’s argument that he sought to create a “positive shock” by heeding a key demand for the protesters.
Lamenting that the PM’s resignation “will force the suspension of the reform paper” adopted by the government in the wake of the eruption of protests, Nasrallah decried that “accordingly, there will be no amnesty law or a law for recovering the looted funds, nor a lifting of immunities nor serious draft laws for combating corruption.”
As for the unprecedented popular revolt in the country, Nasrallah denied describing the anti-corruption protesters of being "agents of embassies" or accusing them of “receiving funds from embassies,” noting that he was only asking them to be cautious.
“Thanks to a lot of awareness and patience, the Lebanese have managed to avoid falling into the scheme that was being plotted by some parties and to frustrate the wishes of some parties who were wishing to go to chaos, street clashes and eventually strife,” Nasrallah said.
“It was clear that a political coup was being plotted in order to plunge the country into vacuum and this created a state of tension on the streets,” he added.
He warned: “No one should push for a sectarian protest movement… The protest movement has proved that it is cross-sectarian.”
As for the attacks on protesters by Hizbullah supporters and others who back the allied AMAL Movement, Nasrallah said: “Violations and reactions to insults took place and some things went out of control, but they were limited incidents in the face of a major and very positive scene, which is the scene of discipline and awareness.”
“With all due respect and appreciation for all the popular demands, our concern was to prevent the country from descending into vacuum and chaos,” he said.
He added: “The Lebanese who want to continue with protest action have a natural right to do so, but they have to purify their protests and podiums, and we are before a very positive phenomenon that must be capitalized on in the coming period.”
Source: Naharnet
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