Lebanese President Michel Aoun. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc on Thursday welcomed the position taken by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who came to the defense of the party while he was visiting Rome.
Here's what we know:
• "The group welcomes the honest and responsible position of the president regarding the resistance and the importance of his role in confronting the occupation, and sees in it a sincere and fair expression of the reality of the Lebanese position," said Hezbollah members of Parliament, in a press release published after their meeting.
• On a visit to Rome on Sunday, President Aoun defended Hezbollah, his political ally. "Hezbollah has no influence on the security situation of Lebanon. It has weapons, it liberated southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation, it is made up of southern Lebanese who have suffered from the occupation. The resistance to the occupation is not terrorism," the president told an Italian newspaper.
• In addition, the statement called on voters to "address the legislative elections with seriousness and responsibility, and to participate in them in order to elect representatives who will decide on the laws and policies that will serve their interests and their rights."
• Finally, the group also addressed the draft budget, saying that it has “a number of shortcomings which need to be corrected."