Several reformist MPs strongly rejected Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s statements against those who participated in the Oct. 17, 2019 protests, accusing them of being sponsored by the US and the US Embassy in Lebanon.
MP Ibrahim Mneimneh said: “The one undermining the state is the one who uses his weapons at home and in the region.
“He is the one who left the borders loose, and he is the one who disrupted the constitutional deadlines, such as the presidential elections and the formation of governments. He is the one who protects the corrupt.
“What undermined the state is them covering your weapons while you cover their corruption. All of the corrupt are working for the benefit of foreign agendas and projects.”
The MP stressed that Oct. 17 would remain a historic day marking a cross-sectarian national uprising. In his Friday speech, Nasrallah accused the Lebanese who took to the streets of treason.
He boasted that Hezbollah was behind suppressing these protests and confronting what he said was the chaos planted by the US in Lebanon.
Independent MP Abdel Rahman Bizri told Arab News: “The Lebanese, from different sects and affiliations, took to the streets on Oct. 17 to remind the world that the state is theirs, not the politicians.”
Commenting on Nasrallah’s speech, Bizri added: “We had hoped for internal understanding on the next president by finding common ground around a candidate who may not be supported by everyone but does represent everyone. This would have been better than waiting for a decision by foreign parties. We have already tested such decisions regionally and internationally, and we have suffered the results.
“We, as MPs, feel as though we have failed to elect a president, and we are embarrassed in front of the people who elected us.—AN
