Lebanon’s defense strategy, which should decide on the fate of Hezbollah’s arms, has returned to the table of negotiations. President Michel Aoun promised last March to discuss the matter following the parliamentary elections held across the country six months ago.
Discussions should pave the way for the potential integration of Hezbollah’s arsenal within the framework of a national defense strategy.
However, the Shiite party does not seem enthusiastic about returning to the negotiating table where rival parties should engage in dialogue to safeguard the country’s stability and advance its national interest.
Military experts said current local and regional conditions may not be ripe to place the defense strategy back on the negotiation table. They believe that no solutions are possible in the near future, mainly due to Hezbollah turning into a “regional military force.”
Member of Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc MP Shamel Roukoz told Asharq Al-Awsat that there should be an effective government capable of knowing the risks facing Lebanon and coming up with measures to counter them.
“There are two principle threats ... the first is the Israeli enemy and the second is terrorism,” he said.
Dialogue on the defense strategy was halted at the end of the term of former President Michel Suleiman in 2014.
The country’s leaders have failed in national dialogue sessions held over the span of eight years to agree on the fate of Hezbollah’s arms.
In September 2012, Suleiman presented his vision of a national strategy for the defense of Lebanon, stating that the appropriate frameworks and mechanisms should be agreed upon to use Hezbollah’s weapons and to place them under the army’s mandate. Lebanese leaders discussed this strategy without reaching a conclusion.
But decision-makers adopted the-called “Baabda Declaration”. Article 12 of the Declaration calls for “dissociating Lebanon from the policy of regional and international axes and conflicts, and avoiding the negative repercussions of regional tensions and crises.”
However, with Hezbollah’s decision to send its fighters to Syria to participate in the war, the party has bluntly violated the Declaration.
Head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad has said that the Declaration was “born dead and is mere ink on paper.”
Lebanese Forces deputy Wehbe Qatisha told Asharq Al-Awsat that defense strategy discussions should not be linked to the government crisis.
“A national dialogue can be launched to discuss the defense strategy immediately,” he said, adding that the LF party has a clear vision concerning the issue.
The MP said claims of Hezbollah becoming a regional military force should not make it difficult for Lebanese parties to discuss the fate of its arms.
“A proposal stipulating that Hezbollah be merged with the Lebanese army is impossible and unacceptable,” he added.
