NASRALLAH: Instead of promoting early parliamentary elections, go ahead and form government

08 Jun 2021

Lebanon - Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of "Al-Manar" channel, considered that "the daily developments happening in Palestine in general, and Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular, must be accompanied by [a movement across] the whole nation and not only by Palestinians."

"We stand opposite a hateful and foolish enemy. Everyone knows the extent of the political, social, and cultural dilemmas experienced by the Israeli society, including the call for repeated elections and the inability to form a government," he argued, stressing that "[protecting] Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque is the responsibility of the entire nation."

He pointed out that the people of Jerusalem and the West Bank have preserved the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem with their presence, their patience, their steadfastness, and their flesh, and still do so to this day. "We are working hard to reach an equation that renders any assault on Al-Quds tantamount to a regional war," he stressed, warning that "former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may resort to foolishness, yet again, after his political crisis."

Reassuring his audience over his health condition, Nasrallah thanked all those who checked in on him, and said "I have a dream and a great hope that I will, one day, pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque."

Tackling the Yemeni war, Nasrallah said: "Since day one, we had faith in the ability of the Yemeni people to withstand [calamities], despite the different sources of aggression. Indeed, we believed in its ability to achieve victory. We knew for a fact that this victory was inevitable. All through the past years we have witnessed heroic epics, and today we stand in front of a catastrophic failure for the US-Saudi aggression on Yemen."

"When war fails, they resort to economic means and pressures to achieve the goals they were unable to achieve by military means," he explained. "This is what is happening in Syria, as well as in Lebanon and many countries of the world that have refused to bow to the American arrogance."

Turning his attention to local affairs, namely the parliamentary elections, the Hezbollah secretary General said: "It did not occur to us to postpone the parliamentary elections, neither did we discuss the matter with any of our allies. We are still against early parliamentary elections as we believe that resorting to such a measure is a waste of time."

To those calling for early parliamentary elections, Nasrallah retorted that "instead of talking about early parliamentary measures, why won't you go ahead and form a government?"

Pertaining to the government formation dilemma, he informed his addressees that "the party stands by Berri and always seeks to assist him. We must not despair and continue to work."

He pointed out that "the state performance is weak in all files, which increases the suffering. The government must thus shoulder its responsibilities."

Nasrallah also tackled the issue of monopoly, noting that "monopolists are free to do as they please; they're well-known and enjoy political coverage. They are protected by political forces, sectarian references, and state bodies. The present government and the relevant ministries must declare war on monopolies and monopolists -- this is part of the treatment."

Moving on to the fuel crisis, Nasrallah stressed that "the Iranian offer to send fuel to Lebanon in the Lebanese currency is still valid. If the state remains sluggish, we will go to Iran and negotiate and buy petrol and diesel ships and bring them to the port of Beirut, and let the state then prevent their entry into Lebanon," asserting that "the sight of the humiliation of our people will not be tolerated."

"The rationalization of subsidies will not happen, for any official decision to rationalize or lift subsidies must be made the responsibility of everyone. (…) If a new government is formed, its program will be clear; it has no way out but through the International Monetary Fund, and its first condition is to lift subsidies," he went on to say.

Finally, the Hezbollah Chief uttered his support for the "subsidy card" draft law, and called upon the House of Representatives to approve it as soon as possible.