Analyst Sees Weak Chance for Hariri to Survive as Lebanon's PM

A prominent Lebanese analyst and journalist underlined that future of Sa'ad al-Hariri, the country's current prime minister, is ambiguous as rival groups have not declared him as their choice for the premier post.

News ID: 70089

Date: 09 May 2018 - 21:12

TEHRAN (Defapress)- "There are big parties in Lebanon that Sa'ad al-Hariri is not their final choice for the post. First Hezbollah, second, Walid Jumblatt (the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party), third, Samir Geagea (the executive chairman of the Lebanese Forces, one of the largest Christian political parties in Lebanon) and fourth, Suleiman Frangieh (the leader of al-Marada Party)," Tawfik Shoman told FNA on Wednesday.

"The current chances of Sa'ad al-Hariri to be elected as the prime minister of the new government is very weak," he added.

Shoman noted that Hariri counts on its relations with the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) also known as the Aounist party and its leader, the current foreign minister Gebran Bassil, and Lebanese President Michel Aoun, while there is not a considerable chance for him to win the post.

The Hezbollah resistance movement is poised to be a dominant force in Lebanon's next parliament, based on official but incomplete election results; an outcome that probably will unsettle the United States and its Persian Gulf allies.

Hezbollah and its political allies won more than half the 128 seats, giving the resistance movement the power to block any attempt by its foreign and domestic opponents to force the group to disarm.

Lebanon's Interior Ministry has announced the names of the winning candidates in Sunday’s parliamentary elections. According to the vote count, Hezbollah and its allies namely will form the majority in parliament. The group's allies include the Amal Movement led by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and the Christian Free Patriotic Movement founded by Aoun.

Al-Hariri, an ally of Washington and Riyadh, had also announced that his party has lost a third of seats in the parliamentary elections, stressing that the international community should look at the results of Lebanon's election in a "very positive way”.

Before the official results were announced, supporters of the major parties started celebrating, driving through Beirut and other cities in cars decked out with party flags and firing guns in celebration.

The secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement Sayed Hassan Nasrallah has lauded insuring an atmosphere of calm and security for the country’s general elections as a national achievement, describing the results as a major victory for the resistance group.

Nasrallah has hailed the vote results as “a great moral and political victory for Hezbollah, which protects the country”, emphasizing that Hezbollah needs a strong representation in the parliament in order to fight corruption, honor its promises and build Lebanon.

“The United States and some Persian Gulf states resorted to smear campaign in a bid to poison public opinion towards Hezbollah. Their efforts, however, ended in failure,” he pointed out.

Nasrallah has also warned against threats being made by Israeli officials against Syria, Lebanon and the Islamic Republic of Iran, stressing that they were worrisome for Middle East nations.

Hezbollah maintains Lebanon's most powerful military force and has deployed thousands of its forces to neighboring Syria to fight against terrorist groups such as ISIL and al-Nusra Front along with the army of President Bashar al-Assad.

Lebanon's first parliamentary vote in nine years was held on Sunday, with over 500 candidates vying for seats, as turnout was 49.2 percent.

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