Wednesday 17 June 2009

Aoun Backs Berri, Calls Hariri to Form Bloc with Him and Hezbollah

Aoun Backs Berri, Calls Hariri to Form Bloc with Him and Hezbollah

17/06/2009 The head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Lebanon MP Michel Aoun announced on Wednesday that his bloc will support the national opposition's candidate for the Speakership, the current Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Speaking to reporters following his new bloc's weekly meeting, Aoun renewed calls to adopt proportional representation in forming the next cabinet in case the political forces agreed on a national unity one. "What we are asking for is not veto power but representation based on relativity," Aoun explained, noting that such representation would be fair and might be greater than the guaranteeing third.

Aoun hailed the latest statements made by the head of the Future movement MP Saad Hariri but refrained from declaring his support to him for the position of Prime Minister, urging the latter to declare his platform first. "Disagreement with Hariri covers all subjects but the question of Resistance weapons arsenal was removed from the circle of debate after Hariri's statements," he emphasized.
"Before, the Resistance weapons arsenal formed a threat for Lebanon but now that the elections are over they have forgotten about it after they succeeded in inciting the Christians against it," Aoun noted. He called on the Future movement MP not to go back on his words and therefore, asked him "to join a bloc that includes both us and Hezbollah since we all support the Resistance."

The General, meanwhile, rejected the policy speech made a few days ago by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recalling of his warnings of settlement. "During 14 cabinet sessions and conflict with PM Fouad Saniora, we were calling for a strategy to prevent Palestinian settlement," he said, noting that "no one responded to us and we were told the subject was referred to national dialogue meetings."

Aoun also tackled the parliamentary elections and recalled how the March 14 bloc electoral battle was based on accusations and lies, such as frightening the people about shortening the president’s term. He regretted that the establishments have been toppled during the elections, accusing the security forces of observing the process of bribing voters without taking action.

The Free Patriotic Movement leader noted that the bloc's meeting discussed the allegations directed at Change and Reform MP Ibrahim Kenaan over bribery. "We favor reacting through filing a lawsuit because the witness and the plotter do not deserve a political response," he said.

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