Former prime ministers Fouad Siniora, Najib Mikati and Tammam Salam accused on Monday Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah of undermining the premier’s right to announce the Lebanese position at the Arab and Islamic summits in expressing solidarity with Arab countries.
Their strongly-worded statement came in response to comments delivered last week by Nasrallah, who said the Lebanese delegation's stance at the Makkah summits is "rejected and condemned," noting that "it does not conform to the government's policy statement or dissociation policy."
Mikati, Siniora and Salam said that according to Article 64 of the Lebanese Constitution, the Prime Minister should represent the government and speak on its behalf.
In a statement issued after their meeting at the residence of Salam in Beirut, the three ex-PMs expressed their support to the decisions issued at the summits, held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
They also stressed the importance of solidarity among Arab states in the face of foreign threats and interventions.
Siniora, Mikati and Salam expressed regret at Nasrallah’s remarks against the right of the Prime Minister to represent Lebanon’s stance in the two summits.
Amid the ongoing tension between Hariri’s Mustaqbal Movement and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, the three former officials called on President Michel Aoun to intervene to put an end to what they termed “provocative practices” that are undermining the presidency’s prestige and position.
They also stopped at “some surprising political stances and practices launched by some ministers and politicians, which aim to open debate and divisive issues that are not useful to open them, especially since they had been settled in the Taif Accord and in the Lebanese Constitution.”