Raad says 'protected national consensus' by voting for Aoun
The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad announced Thursday that Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement protected “national consensus” by choosing to vote for President Joseph Aoun in the second round of the presidential election session.
“Delaying the voting for General Aoun was to send a message, and the same as we protected Lebanon, we are now protecting national consensus,” Raad said in parliamnet after Aoun’s election.
“Let us all close ranks to prevent foreign interferences in the management of our internal affairs,” Raad added.
“We will protect our martyrs and their families from any foreign conspiring against them and we are real protectors of the people,” the MP said.
“We have offered blood, topped by the blood of our most scared martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” Raad went on to say.
A delegation from Hezbollah and Amal had held a meeting with Aoun near parliament during a two-hour break between the two electoral rounds. A Shiite Duo source told al-Jadeed TV that they decided to vote for Aoun after they held an "excellent meeting" with him that tackled "all political, security and reconstruction concerns."
OTV had reported that Saudi Arabia has offered “guarantees” to the Shiite Duo in return for their endorsement of Aoun.
Saudi Arabia has “promised the Shiite Duo the finance ministry as one of the guarantees,” OTV said.
Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari also held a meeting in parliament with Speaker Nabih Berri’s aide MP Ali Hassan Khalil only minutes before the session.
Source: Naharnet
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