Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah during a ceremony organized by Hezbollah in tribute to Commander Hassan Hussein Salame, in Khirbet Silm, south Lebanon, on Feb. 29, 2023. (Photo provided by the Hezbollah press office)
Commenting on efforts to end Lebanon's presidential vacuum, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Thursday that his party is "in favor of internal dialogue without any preconditions" and promised that it would study "any initiative positively" with a view to electing a president of the country.
"Hezbollah is still seeking to resolve internal issues, with the election of a president of the republic at the top of the list, in order to guarantee political stability and the proper functioning of the state's institutions," Fadlallah said.
"Hezbollah wanted to elect a president by means of national agreements, and through a national dialogue, which some have been reluctant to accept, insisting on holding electoral sessions in Parliament regardless of a prior agreement," he continued.
Lebanon's Parliament has repeated failed to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose term on office ended on Oct. 31, 2022.
Hezbollah and the Amal Movement have long voiced their preference for the candidacy of Sleiman Frangieh, leader of the Marada Movement, in the presidential contest.
Today, we are in favor of internal dialogue without any preconditions, without vetoes or the imposition of specific choices," Fadlallah said. "We have always been receptive to calls for dialogue without conditions," he added.
The Hezbollah MP stressed "the importance of internal dialogue and the need for it to be serious in order to achieve results."
"Any such initiative presented to us will be studied positively, with a view to achieving results that serve the interests of the country," he said.
This statement comes at a time when the mainly Sunni National Moderation parliamentary group is touring political and religious leaders to present its initiative to break the presidential deadlock. The National Moderation group is proposing to hold parliamentary consultations within the Parliament, which should lead to a call for an open-ended electoral session — meaning MPs would continue to vote after a first round until a candidate achieves a simple majority and is deemed elected. To be elected on a first-round vote, a candidate requires a two-thirds majority in parliament. Speaking from the Maronite patriarchal headquarters in Bkirki, MP Walid Baarini said that his bloc hopes to meet Hezbollah next week.
Five months after the failure of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to bring all the protagonists together around a dialogue table, the National Moderation MPs were able to obtain the approval of several parties, notably the Christian parties, to hold talks in Parliament. In particular, they met with the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Gebran Bassil, and the leader of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea (LF), who gave them the green light.
Fadlallah was speaking at a ceremony organized by his party in tribute to Maj. Hassan Hussein Salameh, in Khirbet Silm, southern Lebanon, in the presence of MP Amine Cherri and several officials.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Hamas movement, Hezbollah has been targeting Israeli military positions from south Lebanon on a daily basis in support of its Palestinian ally. Israel has carried out strikes and targeted operations against Hezbollah officials. The exchange of fire has displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border. At least 280 people, most of them members of Hezbollah and its allies, have been killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7.
"The Israeli enemy is currently trying to step up its aggression in Lebanon and Syria … in the belief that it could weaken the resistance or cause it to back down. However, these attacks will only provoke more responses from the resistance," Fadlallah said. "The resistance has developed means and methods to deal with the enemy," he added. Hezbollah earlier this week shot down an Israeli Hermes-450 drone.
According to the Hezbollah MP, the war in south Lebanon "is linked to the aggression against Gaza on the one hand, and to securing our country's means of protection on the other."
"When the occupation stops its aggression against Gaza, this front will stop because it is a support front," he assured.
A truce in Gaza will not affect Israel's "objective" of pushing Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said this week during a visit to north Israel, confirming that his troops had increased their "firepower" at the border.
"We are going to continue firing, regardless of what happens in the south, until we achieve our objective" of pushing Hezbollah back from the border, Gallant said.