Hezbollah Ends Impasse with al-Rahi, Says No Differences in Positions

Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)
Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)
TT
20

Hezbollah Ends Impasse with al-Rahi, Says No Differences in Positions

Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)
Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi welcomes the Hezbollah delegation, headed by Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, in Bkirki. (NNA)

Hezbollah ended on Monday the impasse with Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Head of the party’s political council Sayyed Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed visited al-Rahi at Bkirki on the occasion of the holidays.

The two parties discussed political affairs, including the presidential vacuum. They did not, however, tackle differences between them, namely al-Rahi's call for Lebanon to remain neutral from regional affairs and for holding an international conference over the country.

No prominent member of Hezbollah had paid a visit to the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate, Bkirki, in nearly two years. Contacts between Hezbollah and Bkirki had, however, remained.

Hezbollah had rejected al-Rahi's call for Lebanon’s “active neutrality” and for holding the international conference.

The party is now keen on reviving ties with Bkirki because “a president cannot be elected without dialogue and agreement.”

Lebanon has been without a president since November when Michel Aoun’s term ended without parties agreeing on a successor. Several elections sessions have been held at parliament, but no candidate has secured enough votes to be declared the winner.

Bkirki has been calling for the election of a president through 86 votes of the 128-member legislature.

Speaking after meeting al-Rahi on Monday, Amin al-Sayyed said the patriarch had expressed his keenness on electing a president as soon as possible.

Parties are demanded to responsibly address the issue because Lebanon is experiencing “difficult circumstances” and the election of a president is a priority, he added.

He stressed that channels of communication between Bkirki and Hezbollah “are always open”, but circumstances, such as the coronavirus pandemic and others, had thwarted a meeting.

Moreover, Amin al-Sayyed underscored that there were no differences with al-Rahi, but the two sides “had exchanged views based on the keenness on electing a new president” who can carry out his duties towards Lebanon.

He added that the election was a “necessity and a priority above all else.”

Furthermore, he called for “real” and “serious” dialogue between parliamentary blocs so that an understanding can be reached over a president who enjoys consensus and enough popular support.

The new president should not be confrontational, he stated.

Amin al-Sayyed also backed parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s call to hold dialogue aimed at reaching an understanding over the new president who would be tasked with helping Lebanon out of its crises.



Tunisians Protest Against President as Jailed Politicians Begin Hunger Strike

Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)
Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)
TT
20

Tunisians Protest Against President as Jailed Politicians Begin Hunger Strike

Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)
Figures detained on conspiracy charges in Tunisia - ( Ghazi Chaouachi official social media page)

Hundreds of Tunisians staged two protest rallies on Wednesday against what they say is the authoritarian rule of President Kais Saied and demanded the release of political prisoners, while six detained opposition figures held a hunger strike.

Saied seized extra powers in 2021 when he shut down the elected parliament and moved to rule by decree before assuming authority over the judiciary. The opposition described his move as a coup, Reuters reported.

Supporters of the opposition Free Constitutional Party gathered in the capital Tunis to demand the release of their detained leader Abir Moussi. They chanted slogans such as "Saied, dictator, your turn has come," and "Free Abir".

"What is happening is true tyranny, no freedom for the opposition, no freedom for the media. Any word can send you to prison," one protester, Hayat Ayari, told Reuters.

Hundreds of supporters of another opposition party, the Salvation Front, staged a separate rally, also in Tunis, to demand the release of detained politicians, activists and journalists.

Six prominent opposition figures detained on conspiracy charges have begun a hunger strike in prison to protest against their impending trial, their lawyers said on Wednesday.

Abdelhamid Jelassi, Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Khiyam Turki, Ridha Belhaj, Issam Chebbi and Ghazi Chaouachi - all detained in 2023 during a crackdown on the opposition - have refused to participate in what they say is an "unfair trial".

Saied said in 2023 that the detainees were "traitors and terrorists" and that the judges who acquitted them were their accomplices.

The detainees have denied any wrongdoing and have said they were preparing an initiative aimed at uniting Tunisia's fragmented opposition.

Most leaders of political parties are now in prison including two of Saied's most prominent opponents, Moussi and Rached Ghannouchi, the head of the Ennahda party.

The government says there is democracy in Tunisia and Saied says he will not be a dictator, but that what he calls a corrupt elite must be held accountable.