The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary group Mohammad Raad. (Courtesy of: Muntasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary group Mohammad Raad reiterated on Wednesday in a speech his party's support for the candidacy of the Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh for the Lebanese presidency.
Raad said he was responding to those criticizing Frangieh's candidacy, adding that criticizing Frangieh's lack of program is "unconstitutional."
The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary group delivered his speech in Tyre, South Lebanon.
Two weeks earlier, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil said that any president from any political party risks failing in his mission "if he has no program."
Raad said that Hezbollah "has the right to vote for whoever it wants as president," calling Frangieh, whom he did not mention by name, "a natural candidate who can represent a link between us and our political opponents.
He welcomed the "regional and international confidence" enjoyed by the Marada leader.
"We have decided to support our candidate and we do not want to impose him on anyone," the Shiite leader added.
He then addressed "those who believe that the problem of this candidacy lies in his program and not in his person," saying that such argument is "unconstitutional."
"It is the cabinet who establishes a program. When he attends a cabinet [meeting], the president chairs it, but he can not impose his program on the government, according to the Taif Agreement," Raad said.
"It is the cabinet who, when it convenes, defines the program, the plan, the reforms and sets the timetables for the country's recovery," he added.
Addressing Frangieh's detractors, Raad said, "If you do not like the candidate we support, tell us who your candidate is, who remains non-existent after 11 electoral sessions."
Lebanon's main Christian parties not only reject Frangieh's candidacy for the presidency, but are also against the cabinet convening during the presidential vacuum.
The FPM and the Lebanese Forces accuse the caretaker cabinet of intending to arrogate to itself decision-making prerogatives that, according to them, belong to the president, a position traditionally reserved for a Maronite Christian.
Addressing his party's military show on Sunday, Raad said it aims to send a message to Israel, and is not concerned with the domestic political scene that requires "dialogue, not resistance."
Sunday’s event partially cleared the ambiguity: Despite the prevailing climate of détente, Hezbollah will not give up its arms.
Frangieh has stated on several occasions since the official announcement of Hezbollah's support for his candidacy that he was ready to launch a dialogue around the Shiite party's arsenal if he were elected president.