BEIRUT: Lebanon’s new proportional representation electoral system has created a long-awaited opportunity for opponents of Prime Minister Saad Hariri. It gives them a chance to confront him and reject what they consider “the Future Movement’s monopoly over Sunni representation.”
The most prominent clash will be in the Beirut II constituency, where nine electoral lists are competing — the largest number in the country.
The confrontation is a political one, reflected in the campaign speeches of Hariri and his Hezbollah opponents. These did not focus on who will win, but on who will have a majority of seats and influence domestic political decisions as well as Lebanon’s status in the region. They also ruled out any political alliance between the two sides — but they will be forced into “political cohabitation” in the cabinet.
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem spoke about the identities of those who he thinks will head the parliament and the government. He has decided that Nabih Berri will return as speaker, and declared that “it isn’t necessary for the head of the government to have a large parliamentary bloc or even be a member of parliament.”
His speech suggested that Hezbollah would enter the new era with strong influence regardless of the results at the ballot box.
It seems Hezbollah is also hinting at amending the agreement that made Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) founder Michel Aoun president in exchange for installing Hariri as prime minister. One of Hezbollah’s main conditions is that the new government’s ministerial agenda does not include anything that could affect the role and fate of the resistance.
Former MP Mustafa Alloush, a member of the Future Movement’s political office, said Hezbollah is seizing every opportunity to prevent Hariri’s return to the premiership.
“I believe the presidential settlement will continue if Hariri wins an influential parliamentary bloc in alliance with FPM,” he said. “Hezbollah may seek to unite with all other blocs to face the Future Movement — consensus here becomes an expression of the balance of power.
“The balance may be negative and capable of destroying everything, or it could be positive through which the government can be run and arms control can be imposed, but this cannot change unless the region’s situation is changed.”
In contrast, Hariri’s speech focused on “Lebanon first,” the country’s Arab identity, and the necessity of “an influential bloc in the parliament to be able to hold dialogue with all political parties.”
“Hezbollah cannot cancel me and I cannot cancel Hezbollah,” said Hariri. “I cannot accept their regional strategy nor can they accept mine, but why should the people of Lebanon pay the price? From here rises the importance of the consensus that is being developed under the auspices of the Lebanese president.”
Alloush described Hariri’s words as “a historic speech for ensuring political and security stability, to ensure economic stability and employment opportunities.”
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s speeches suggest the party is worried about a decline in support and public objections to its performance, in terms of losses in Syria and lack of attention to domestic development.
Hezbollah has altered its campaign rhetoric from a focus on the military to providing health and old-age benefits, improving education, supporting the Lebanese University, and improving economic and financial policies, among other promises.
“For the first time, the leader of the Hezbollah militia is trying to make his political rhetoric different than before,” Alloush said. “Nasrallah is forced to discuss developmental issues and corruption because the resistance’s logic and arms can no longer be the sole focus during this stage, because Hezbollah’s community is now criticizing the party’s performance in developmental areas, and Hezbollah has not offered any economic or developmental vision for Lebanon or the areas it influences.”
Political analyst Hussam Itani believes “the political settlement will continue in Lebanon.”
He said: “I don’t believe Hezbollah would want to start an internal political conflict in Lebanon with the Sunni community in light of the current tension between Iran and Israel.”
Lebanese election fuels confrontation between bitter political rivals
Lebanese election fuels confrontation between bitter political rivals
- The most prominent confrontation will be in the Beirut II constituency, where nine electoral lists are competing.
- Hezbollah has altered its campaign rhetoric from a focus on the military to providing health and old-age benefits, improving education, supporting the Lebanese University, and improving economic and financial policies.
Aidarous Al-Zubaidi: Fugitive at large
- Yemen appoints committee to probe allegations against former STC leader after the group’s collapse and his reported flight from the country
- Preliminary findings accuse Al-Zubaidi of exploiting public office for personal gain, fueling political division and instability in south
LONDON: A special committee formed on presidential authority by Yemen’s public prosecutor’s office has made a series of findings against Maj. Gen. Aidarous Al-Zubaidi, the sacked vice-president of the country’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).
Al-Zubaidi, who is accused of high treason and other crimes against the state, is currently on the run.
Arab News has seen a copy of preliminary findings by the committee which reveal that Al-Zubaidi is accused of abuses of power including corruption, land grabbing and oil trading for personal gain.
On Jan. 7, the PLC issued a decree revoking Al-Zubaidi’s membership of the PLC and accusing him of high treason and other serious crimes, including forming an armed gang, killing military officers and soldiers, and undermining the country’s sovereignty.
At the same time it authorized the public prosecutor’s office to form a special committee to investigate allegations against Al-Zubaidi, empowering it to summon and arrest individuals, gather evidence and take necessary actions according to the law, with a mandate to complete the investigation quickly and to provide periodic reports to the PLC.
The committee’s preliminary findings identify a series of serious allegations against Al-Zubaidi, who is said to be responsible for multiple abuses “which have contributed to creating a state of political and popular division in the southern governorates.”
Al-Zubaidi is the leader of the Southern Transitional Council (STC). On Jan. 7, Al-Zubaidi was due to attend talks in Riyadh with a 50-member delegation from the STC, but at the last minute, he fled instead.
The committee’s findings include allegations that Al-Zubaidi is alleged to have seized large plots of land, including in the Aden Free Zone, on Al-Ummal Island, in Bir Fadl and the Ras Omran area.
The committee has also uncovered allegations that pressure was exerted on the Yemen Petroleum Company and its director, Tareq Al-Walidi, to prevent the import of fuel except through a company affiliated with Al-Zubaidi’s brother-in-law, Jihad Al-Shoudhabi, and the Minister of Transport, Abdul Salam Humaid.
For nearly two years, it is claimed, Al-Shoudhabi has been the sole supplier, earning large profits that have gone to Al-Zubaidi’s treasury.
The report also identifies commercial companies owned by Al-Shoudhabi and, “behind him,” it is claimed, Al-Zubaidi. Two are named in the report: Alahlia Exchange & Transfers Company and Arabian Furniture Center, one of Yemen’s largest furniture companies. Both are headquartered in Aden.
All these and other “deeply regrettable acts of seizure, plunder, and financial and administrative corruption,” the committee says, “have had serious repercussions in southern circles and were a direct cause of southern division and the emergence of many grievances.”
On Thursday, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said there was reliable intelligence indicating that on the night of Jan. 7, Al-Zubaidi had departed from Aden on a ship bound for Somaliland — probably the port of Berbera, 260 kilometers south across the Gulf of Aden.
From there he is believed to have been flown on a cargo aircraft to Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, via Mogadishu, the coastal capital of Somalia, a flight of about 2,600 km.
Some of the crimes of which Al-Zubaidi is accused relate to the largescale military offensive launched by STC forces across southern Yemen in December.
“We know that the Southern Transitional Council worked to storm the eastern cities militarily,” a source close to the Yemeni government told Arab News.
“The pattern and scale of grave human-rights violations and acts of security and military escalation witnessed by the eastern cities in the south of the homeland — Hadhramout, Al-Mahra and Shabwah — as a result of the military incursion by the forces of the Transitional Council during the monitoring period extending from Dec. 3, are considered heinous crimes against the Yemeni people.”
According to the Yemeni Ministry of Legal Affairs and Human Rights, a total of 2,358 individual offences have been identified, including cases of extrajudicial killing and physical injuries, arbitrary arrests and captivity, enforced disappearance and displacement, and the destruction and looting of public and private property.
Backed by Saudi airstrikes, in the first week of January, the Yemeni government quickly regained the captured territories, Al-Zubaidi was sacked from the PLC and charged with treason, and the UAE announced it would withdraw its remaining troops from the country.
Following Al-Zubaidi’s disappearance on the eve of the planned talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has accused the UAE of helping to smuggle the wanted man out of the country.
The same source told Arab News there is evidence that Al-Zubaidi “was receiving YER 10 billion ($42 million) monthly … deducted from the aid that Yemen was receiving.
“While Al-Zubaidi was receiving those funds, Yemeni citizens had not been receiving their lawful salaries for years, including the diplomatic corps.”
Last Thursday, Mohammed Al-Jaber, the Saudi ambassador to Yemen, announced that the Kingdom would assume responsibility for the salaries of Yemeni state employees, including military personnel, giving $90 million to cover salaries for two months.
On Friday evening, Al-Zubaidi, his whereabouts still unconfirmed, made his first public statement since his disappearance 10 days ago.
“We will no longer accept any solutions that diminish our rights or impose an unacceptable reality upon us,” he wrote in a social media post that left no doubt about his determination to undermine the internationally recognized government of Yemen.
He added: “I pledge to you ... that we will continue together until we achieve the desired national goal.
“With your determination, we will prevail. With your unity, the South will be protected, and with your will, the future state will be established.”
