Lebanon reformists weigh choices after election surge

Supporters of Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement carry flags and placards outside the party's office in Sin El Fil, Lebanon, May 17, 2022. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 19 May 2022
Follow

Lebanon reformists weigh choices after election surge

  • Analysts have added up MPs to figure out the size of the parliamentary blocs, which are divided between sovereign blocs and pro-Hezbollah groupings

BEIRUT: Newly elected reformist MPs in Lebanon are planning strategies following election breakthroughs that grant them significant sway in the parliamentary balance of power.

Thirteen reformist MPs in Lebanon who entered the legislative race on the values of the 2019 anti-establishment uprising, as well as 21 independent MPs, have entered the newly elected Lebanese Parliament.

Analysts have added up MPs to figure out the size of the parliamentary blocs, which are divided between sovereign blocs and pro-Hezbollah groupings.

Figures show that elected MPs may be positioned within 13 blocs divided into two opposite larger camps, forming the 128-MP Parliament.

The sovereign MPs can be classified based on their previous positions. A total of 68 MPs are opposed to Hezbollah. They include members from the Lebanese Forces Party, the Progressive Socialist Party, the Islamic Group and the Lebanese Phalanges Party, as well as independents and reformists.

Meanwhile, the pro-Hezbollah camp includes the party itself, the Amal Movement, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Marada Movement, the Tashnaq Party and Al-Ahbash, for a total of about 60 MPs.

There is much speculation about how the new independent MPs will deal with upcoming events, and how they will position themselves on the parliamentary map.

A political observer told Arab News: “We will see the true colors of every MP when topics related to core issues are discussed.”

The observer added: “Will these MPs change their stance regarding Hezbollah’s illegal weapons, although some have avoided addressing this sensitive issue in the past? Will these MPs be able to form a unified bloc that can influence decisions within Parliament, or will they remain independent, each working alone?”

Suleiman Franjieh, head of the Marada Movement and a candidate for the Presidency, appealed to reformist MPs, saying: “Do not place strict conditions on yourselves so that you do not become isolated, because theory is one thing, and practice is another.”

Fouad Siniora, former Lebanon PM, who backed a list in Beirut and whose candidates all failed to reach parliament, said: “Sovereign MPs must develop a correct vision for the future on how to confront Hezbollah’s domination and control in order to restore the Lebanese state.”

He added: “In 2008, the sovereign forces had won 72 seats in parliament, but Hezbollah at that time refused to form a majority government.”

Siniora warned against backing down as the March 14 forces did in 2009, which cost them their power.

A video shared on social media shocked voters in Tripoli and around the country. The elected MP Firas Salloum, who was on the Real Change list with the Islamic Group, was filmed celebrating his victory by dancing to a song supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The video prompted the Islamic Group to issue a statement renouncing Salloum. It said: “He does not represent us as he seemed proud of his affiliation to the criminal tyrant, who blew up the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam Mosques in Tripoli, and killed our people in Syria.”

The statement demanded that Salloum resign “because he does not represent the city and does not resemble its people.”

Reformist MP Elias Jarada said: “Taking the revolution from the street to the Parliament necessitates adopting a policy of reaching out to all for dialogue so that the 17 October revolution becomes a model for dynamic political action. It is important to be realistic because parliament includes groups that represent other categories of the Lebanese people.”

Several reformist MPs rushed to convene with their groups to determine their next steps in Parliament.

Elected reformist MP Ibrahim Mneimneh, whose list won three parliamentary seats in Beirut’s second constituency, said: “The reformist MPs will be the revolutionary voice in parliament. We will not compromise with the criminal regime that destroyed our lives, and we will not compromise in the face of intimidation with weapons, nor over the sale of state assets, the money of depositors, or the path of justice with the Beirut port blast and the explosion in Akkar.”

Leaked news suggested that reformist MP Melhem Khalaf, former head of the Beirut Bar Association who took part in protests against state corruption and helped release detained protesters, could possibly be elected deputy parliament speaker, succeeding Elie Ferzli, who has held the position since 2000, but failed to reach Parliament in the recent elections.

Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is seeking a new term, is reportedly making efforts to win over civil society, and supports having Khalaf as his deputy.

Major challenges await the newly elected house, the first of which is electing a speaker and a deputy speaker, followed by parliamentary consultations to assign someone to form a new government, then electing a new president in September or October after Michel Aoun’s term ends.

There are also significant legislative obligations, within the framework of reforms required by the international community to extricate Lebanon from its worsening economic crisis.


Syrian woman is jailed for life over Istanbul killer blast; over 20 others also get prison sentences

Updated 27 April 2024
Follow

Syrian woman is jailed for life over Istanbul killer blast; over 20 others also get prison sentences

  • Ahlam Albashir was given a total of seven life sentences by a Turkish court for carrying out the attack in Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13, 2022
  • Twenty others were given prison sentences ranging from four years to life

JEDDAH: A Syrian woman who planted a bomb that killed six people in Istanbul’s main shopping street 18 months ago was jailed for life on Friday.

Ahlam Albashir was given a total of seven life sentences by a Turkish court for carrying out the attack in Istiklal Avenue on Nov. 13, 2022. Six Turkish citizens, two members each from three families, died in the blast in the busy street packed with shoppers and tourists. About 100 people were injured.

More than 30 other people were accused in connection with the explosion. Four were released from prison on Friday, and a further 10 were ordered to be tried separately in their absence because they could not be found.
Twenty others were given prison sentences ranging from four years to life. Of those, six received aggravated life imprisonment for murder and “disrupting the unity and integrity of the state.”

Turkiye blamed Kurdish militants for the explosion, and said the order for the attack was given in Kobani in northern Syria, where Turkish forces have conducted operations against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in recent years.
The YPG and the outlawed PKK Kurdish separatist group, which has fought a decades-old insurgency against the Turkish state, denied involvement in the attack. No group admitted it.
Istanbul has been attacked in the past by Kurdish, Islamist and leftist militants. A wave of bombings and other attacks began nationwide when a ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK broke down in mid-2015.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK’s conflict with Turkiye since the militant group took up arms in 1984. It is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the EU and the US. 
 

 

 


1 case dismissed, 4 on hold in UN investigation into Oct. 7 allegations against UNRWA staff

Updated 26 April 2024
Follow

1 case dismissed, 4 on hold in UN investigation into Oct. 7 allegations against UNRWA staff

  • Investigators have been looking into cases of 12 agency workers accused by Israel in January of participating in attacks by Hamas, and 7 others named later
  • 14 cases remain under investigation but the others were dismissed or suspended due to lack of evidence; UN’s internal investigators due to visit Israel again in May

NEW YORK CITY: UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday that the organization’s internal oversight body has been investigating 19 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees over allegations that they were affiliated with Hamas and other militant groups.

Israeli authorities alleged in January that 12 UNRWA workers participated in the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel.

The agency immediately cut ties with the named individuals, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in consultation with UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, ordered an independent review to evaluate the measures taken by the agency to ensure adherence to the principle of neutrality and how it responds to allegations of breaches of neutrality, particularly in the challenging context of the situation in Gaza.

In a wide-ranging report published this week, the investigators, led by Catherine Colonna, a former foreign minister of France, said Israeli authorities have yet to provide any evidence to support the allegations against UNRWA workers. They also noted that Israel had not previously raised concerns about any individuals named on the agency staffing lists it has been receiving since 2011.

They stated in the report: “In the absence of a political solution between Israel and the Palestinians, UNRWA remains pivotal in providing life-saving humanitarian aid and essential social services, particularly in health and education, to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank.

“As such, UNRWA is irreplaceable and indispensable to Palestinians’ human and economic development. In addition, many view UNRWA as a humanitarian lifeline.”

Guterres also ordered a separate investigation by the UN’s own Office of Internal Oversight Services to determine the accuracy of the Israeli allegations. The mandate of the OIOS, an independent office within the UN Secretariat, is to assist the secretary-general in the handling of UN resources and staff through the provision of internal audit, investigation, inspection and evaluation services.

Dujarric said the 19 members of UNRWA staff under investigation included the 12 named by the Israeli allegations in January, whose contracts were immediately terminated, and seven others the UN subsequently received information about, five in March and two in April.

Of the 12 employees identified by Israeli authorities in January, eight remain under OIOS investigation, Dujarric said. One case was dismissed for lack of evidence and corrective administrative action is being explored, he added, and three cases were suspended because “the information provided by Israel is not sufficient for OIOS to proceed with an investigation. UNRWA is considering what administrative action to take while they are under investigation.”

Regarding the seven additional cases brought to the attention of the UN, one has been suspended “pending receipt of additional supporting evidence,” Dujarric said.

“The remaining six of those cases are currently under investigation by OIOS. OIOS has informed us that its investigators had traveled to Israel for discussions with the Israeli authorities and will undertake another visit during May.

“These discussions are continuing and have so far been productive and have enabled progress on the investigations.”

The initial allegations against some members of its staff threw the agency, which provides aid and other services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza and across the region, into crisis. The US, the biggest single funder of UNRWA, and several other major donors put their contributions to the organization on hold.

In all, 16 UN member states suspended or paused donations, while others imposed conditions on further contributions, putting the future of the agency in doubt. Many of the countries, including Germany, later said their funding would resume. However, US donations remain on hold.


37 million tonnes of debris in Gaza could take years to clear: UN

Updated 26 April 2024
Follow

37 million tonnes of debris in Gaza could take years to clear: UN

  • “We do know that we estimated 37 million tonnes of debris, which is approximately 300 kg per square meter,” Lodhammar added

GENEVA: There are some 37 million tonnes of debris to clear away in Gaza once the Israeli offensive is over, a senior official with the UN Mine Action Service said on Friday.
And unexploded ordnance buried in the rubble would complicate that work, said UNMAS’ Pehr Lodhammar, who has run mine programs in countries such as Iraq.
It was impossible to say how much of the ammunition fired in Gaza remained live, said Lodhammar.
“We know that typically there is a failure rate of at least 10 percent of land service ammunition,” he told journalists in Geneva.

Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sin El Fil, Lebanon April 26, 2024. (REUTERS)

“We do know that we estimated 37 million tonnes of debris, which is approximately 300 kg per square meter,” he added.
He said that starting from a hypothetical number of 100 trucks would take 14 years to clear away.
Lodhammar was speaking as UNMAS launched its 2023 annual report on Friday.
The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas erupted when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
Also on Friday, the head of an aid group warned that an Israeli assault on southern Gaza’s Rafah area would spell disaster for civilians, not only in Gaza but across the Middle East,
Jan Egeland said the region faced a “countdown to an even bigger conflict.”
Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, also said that 1.3 million civilians seeking refuge in Rafah — including his aid group’s staff — were living in “indescribable fear” of an Israeli offensive.
Egeland urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to proceed with the operation.
“Netanyahu, stop this. It is a disaster not only for the Palestinians, it would be a disaster for Israel. You will have a stain on the Israeli conscience and history forever,” he said.
The NRC head spoke to Reuters in Lebanon, where he visited southern villages that he said were caught in a “horrific crossfire” between the Israeli military and Hezbollah.
“I am just scared that we haven’t learned from 2006,” said Egeland, referring to the month-long war between Hezbollah and Israel that was the two foes’ last bloody confrontation, during which he headed the UN’s relief operations.
“We do not need another war in the Middle East. At the moment, I’m feeling like (this is a) countdown to an even bigger conflict,” he said.

 


Turkiye’s Erdogan postpones tentative White House visit, sources say

Updated 26 April 2024
Follow

Turkiye’s Erdogan postpones tentative White House visit, sources say

  • A new date will soon be set due to a change in Erdogan’s schedule, the Turkish official said
  • The source familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear what prompted the postponement

WASHINGTON/ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has postponed a White House meeting with President Joe Biden, a source familiar with the situation and a Turkish official said on Friday of a visit that had been tentatively planned for May 9.
A White House spokesperson, while not confirming the May 9 date, said: “We look forward to hosting President Erdogan at the White House at a mutually convenient time, but we have not been able to align our schedules and do not have any visit to announce at this time.”
A new date will soon be set due to a change in Erdogan’s schedule, the Turkish official said, requesting anonymity. The source familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was unclear what prompted the postponement.
The White House never formally announced the visit but a US official told Reuters in late March that following Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s visit to Washington, the White House offered and Ankara had accepted May 9 for a meeting between Biden and Erdogan.
That would have been the first bilateral visit to Washington since 2019 when Erdogan met with then President Donald Trump, a Republican. He and Biden have met a few times at international summits and spoken by phone since the Democratic US president took office in January 2021.
Ties between the US and Turkiye have been long strained by differences on a range of issues. While they have thawed since Ankara ratified Sweden’s NATO membership bid earlier this year, tensions persist over Syria and Russia and the war in Gaza.
Erdogan visited neighboring Iraq this week. Last weekend, he met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul, the first meeting between Erdogan and a Hamas delegation headed by Haniyeh since Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.


Netherlands will consider resuming support to Palestinian UNRWA agency

Updated 26 April 2024
Follow

Netherlands will consider resuming support to Palestinian UNRWA agency

  • The decision follows an investigation by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna
  • The Colonna-led review of the agency’s neutrality concluded Israel had yet to back up its accusations

AMSTERDAM: The Dutch government on Friday said it would consider resuming funding for the UN agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) in Gaza if the agency implements recommendations to strengthen its neutrality.
The decision follows an investigation by the former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna released on Monday into whether some UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
The Colonna-led review of the agency’s neutrality concluded Israel had yet to back up its accusations that hundreds of UNRWA staff were operatives in Gaza terrorist groups.
The Dutch government said it had already given its yearly donation to UNRWA in January, before the accusations against the agency came to light. It was one of several European countries that paused funding for the agency after the allegations were levied.
It said it did not foresee any additional donations in the near future, but would consider UNRWA as a potential partner if requests for aid were made.