Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, a member of Hezbollah's central council, delivers a speech in South Lebanon on April 17, 2023. (Credit: Courtesy of: Mountasser Abdallah)
Hezbollah's central council member Nabil Kaouk Sunday said that the "only glimmer of hope" in Lebanon's current political deadlock is the ongoing presidential election dialogue between his party and the Free Patriotic Movement.
The relationship between FPM and Hezbollah has experienced tension in the past months over Lebanon's presidential election. The country has been without a president since Michel Aoun left office on Oct. 31, 2022.
Led by Gebran Bassil, the FPM supported the candidacy of former Finance Minister and IMF official Jihad Azour over Hezbollah's candidate Sleiman Frangieh.
In a speech during a ceremony in South Lebanon, Kaouk said that "amid the paralysis, tension, and political deadlock, the only glimmer of hope in the country is the dialogue about the presidential election between Hezbollah and the FPM. It is continuous and ongoing in a positive way and it doesn't wait for a foreign intervention."
Kaouk went on to accuse his political rivals of relying on foreign sanctions against Hezbollah and its allies amid reports of potential sanctions against parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
"They started betting on the weapon of foreign sanctions. They are pushing for these sanctions against their partners in the country, which is a sin on the level of their betting and [on that of] their national belonging," Kaouk also said in his speech.
"Lebanon cannot handle a president that comes with the weapon of sanctions ... The interest of Lebanon is with a president that takes into account the pacts that save the country and who wouldn't be a platform for political calculations that jeopardize national unity," Kaouk added.
Last Thursday, ahead of the third commemoration of the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, several Republican members of the US Congress asked the Biden Administration to adopt a tougher policy against the Lebanese political class — including sanctions — notably against Berri, the online news site Al-Monitor reported.