Moussawi Calls for Avoiding 'Mistakes that Harm Coexistence'

A prominent Hizbullah lawmaker on Sunday called on those who are “keen on Lebanon” to avoid committing mistakes that “harm coexistence,” stressing that importance of running the country on the basis of “partnership and balance.”

“Lebanon is different than some other societies because it is a pluralistic and balanced society that contains various sects, religions, parties, ideologies and affiliations,” Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi said.

“Its governance formula cannot be based on the hegemony of one party over another but rather on the concept of real and actual partnership,” he stressed.

“Has partnership in the national decision been achieved and can it be achieved in a cabinet that lacks its main components?” Moussawi asked.

He added: “Those keen on Lebanon and its survival as a coexistence model must not commit mistakes that harm this coexistence in their administration of the governance formula in Lebanon, which must always be based on partnership and balance.”

Hizbullah's ally the Free Patriotic Movement, which has the biggest Christian bloc in parliament, has suspended its participation in cabinet sessions and national dialogue meetings over accusations that other parties in the country are not respecting the National Pact.

Hizbullah expressed solidarity with the FPM by boycotting last Thursday's cabinet session.

The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state based on Christian-Muslim partnership.

The FPM's boycott of cabinet meetings was initially linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The movement has long voiced reservations over the government's decision-taking mechanism in the absence of a president.

Addressing Prime Minister Tammam Salam, FPM chief Jebran Bassil has recently said that “the son of late PM Saeb Salam must pay great attention when he says that the government is respecting the National Pact when it convenes in the presence of ministers representing only six percent of a main component of the country (Christians).”

Bassil has also warned that the country might be soon plunged into a “political system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the FPM's demands regarding Muslim-Christian “partnership.”

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh hit back at Bassil on Monday, saying Marada and the other Christian parties in the cabinet “represent a lot more than six percent.”