Geagea calls on Hezbollah to send arms to Iran, sell them or give them to army

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has responded to the remarks that MP Mohammad Raad voiced Monday at the Baabda Palace, saying there was no “exclusion” in the designation of Nawaf Salam as premier.

“Where was the exclusion? It is known that the PM post belongs to the Sunnis in Lebanon and the two candidates for the post were from this sect and the MPs names their candidates without any pressures. The word exclusion can be said when a certain sect interferes in a post belonging to another sect,” Geagea explained in an interview on Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel.

“The structure of the Lebanese state reflects a consensus process, but it is not necessary to tackle every issue through consensus. What Raad said about coexistence is also out of context, seeing as exclusion can be true if PM-designate Nawaf Salam decides to form the new government without the Shiite sect,” Geagea added.

Stressing that the unwritten 1943 National Pact stipulates the representation of the Christian and Muslim religious communities and not every sect belonging to them, the LF leader noted that Salam’s designation would have violated the National Pact had no Muslim MP voted for him.

“The president and the premier must ask Hezbollah about the fate of its arms, to see if they want to send them to Iran, sell them or hand them over to the Lebanese Army, and then a new phase would begin, which would be in the interest of all Lebanese, specifically Hezbollah’s environment, seeing as there can be no leniency with these arms,” Geagea went on to say.

As for the deliberations that led to Salam’s nomination, Geagea said the so-called Change MPs were behind the selection.

“We secured the votes of 35 MPs for MP (Fouad) Makhzoumi, whereas some Change MPs secured 17 votes for Nawaf Salam and refused to vote for Makhzoumi. In the face of that situation and for the sake of Lebanon, we chose to endorse Judge Salam, and had it not been for this move, (caretaker PM Najib) Mikati would have become premier anew,” Geagea explained.

Noting that recovering the money of depositors is one of the priorities of the Lebanese Forces, Geagea said the first topic that he will discuss with the new premier will be the case of the Beirut port explosion and “the need to resume investigations with all due transparency.”