Hariri Rejects Proportionality in the Presence of Hizbullah’s Arms
Ex-Premier Saad Hariri slammed efforts to adopt a parliamentary elections law based on proportionality, saying the threat of Hizbullah’s arms closes the door to democratic competition.
In an interview published in al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday, Hariri said: “Proportionality is a means for people or political movements that do not enjoy absolute majority in a certain region to be represented in parliament based on their proportional size.”
“But we all know that certain regions in Lebanon are blocked to democratic competition due to arms and the threat to use them against those who reject the status quo,” al-Mustaqbal movement leader said in reference to Hizbullah.
He held President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati responsible for the adoption of the proportional representation draft-law proposed by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel amid the presence of arms.
“There have been instructions by the head of the regime in Syria to leaderships and officials in the Lebanese government to impose a law that would break al-Mustaqbal movement, its allies and all those who stand against the death machine in Syria and the Syrian hegemony on Lebanon,” Hariri said.
Challenging the alleged instructions, he said: “This won’t be the case.”
Asked about the assassination attempt on Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea earlier this month, Hariri said: “This criminal terrorist attempt falls mainly in the framework of the next parliamentary elections.”
“Those who tried to kill Geagea wanted to eliminate an entire political team from the polls” in 2013, he said.
The attempt on the LF leader’s life “put Lebanon on a new track,” he added.
But Hariri challenged the perpetrators, saying the March 14 opposition will compete in the elections as a united independence movement in its fight for Lebanon’s democracy and Arabism.
The former premier reiterated his support for the Syrian people, saying “any democratic change in Syria concerns us given that it would be a victory for the free will of Syrians.”
The Assad regime has been clamping down on protestors since March last year.
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Saturday on the deployment of observers and called upon the Syrian government to "implement visibly" all commitments under special envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan -- including the withdrawal of all troops and heavy guns from Syrian cities.
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