Amal Movement MP and former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT – “We are proud of the national partnership with Hezbollah, which bore the responsibility of defending Lebanon and defending the establishment of the state and its institutions,” Amal Movement MP and former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Monday during a televised press conference.
Here’s what we know:
• “We are keen to protect the rights of everyone equally, and we have previously conducted a comprehensive national dialogue that saved Lebanon; we are the defenders of Lebanon, of its unity and its land,” Khalil said on Monday.
• The press conference came after the head of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil made comments on Sunday criticizing the role of Hezbollah-affiliated ministers in the current cabinet standoff. Najib Mikati's cabinet has not met since Oct. 12, and the PM has resisted convening it over fears that Hezbollah and Amal-connected ministers will walk out if no decision is reached on the future of Judge Tarek Bitar, head of the probe into the 2020 Beirut port explosion. Hezbollah wants Bitar removed from the investigation because he has "politicized" it.
• Khalil “rejected” Bassil’s comments accusing finance ministers of blocking a power plant in Deir Ammar and harming the electricity situation in the country, saying, “you wanted to pass the theft of 50 million dollars, knowing that you were exposed in the Parliament, and there are records to prove it.”
• Bassil criticized Berri on Sunday claiming that votes in Parliament are taken “according to his will because he forbids electronic voting.” Bassil also criticized the Amal Movement for impeding electrical sector reforms.
• Khalil is one of the several current and former politicians charged in connection with the Aug. 4th, 2020, Beirut blast who has failed to attend their scheduled interrogations by Judge Tarek Bitar. He has claimed that Bitar lacks the authority to interrogate him and that the judge is “biased.” Khalil has reportedly used security and judicial dodges to evade the warrant issued for his arrest after he failed to appear for interrogation.