Description:
Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, asserted in a recent interview on Al-Manar TV, that 77 out of the 128 MPs in Lebanon's new Parliament support the strategic path of military resistance to Israel.
Source: Al Manar TV via Kalam Siyasi (YouTube)
Date: May 24, 2022
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Transcript:
Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General:
If I want to go back to the former formal division (of the Lebanese Parliament), we have 62 (MPs of Hezbollah and its allies), (and this is) the formal (division), I reiterate, I do not call for a (Parliamentary) majority, and I don't want (to speak about a parliamentary) majority, nor will we carry on (our discussion) based on (exploring the possibility of a parliamentary) majority. I only wish to read out numbers so that the image would become clear for the people.
There are the 'independents' - before I speak about the independents, we have 62 (MPs). There's something called 'remnants of the March 14 (coalition)', who are composed of the Lebanese Forces, the Phalanges, the Progressive Socialist Party, and the Future Movement - the Future Movement took a certain position. (However,) at that time, those were - Host:
- (you mean back) in 2018...
Qassem:
(Indeed,) in 2018, these (remnants of the March 14 coalition) were 47 (MPs) - Host:
- and today?
Qassem:
Now they are 36 (MPs). So, we have 'March 14 remnants' - although there is no connection between them, yet if we formally divided them, they are 36 (MPs). We have the independents with 16 (MPs), (and) these 16 independents are divided into two segments; a segment which we call 'moderate' and another which we call 'negative' - Host:
- the moderates (are ones) which you have open (dialogue/communication) with? - Qassem:
- The moderate ones are those with whom we have ties. The moderate ones are those who are with the path of strategic resistance (against Israel), yet they (chose to) take a certain position on their own.
Host:
What's the percentage of the moderate (segment) among those 16 (independent MPs)?
Qassem:
The percentage of moderates out of those 16 (independent MPs) is 8. There are 8 'moderate' (MPs) and 8 'negative' (MPs). Actually, I didn't want to mention names, but (I will) for the sake of credibility. What would you say about Michel al-Mur in Matn (District)? He's among the moderates. What about Ghassan Skaf in Western Bekaa? He (too) is among the moderates. (So is) Mohammad Suleiman in Akkar. Abdul Rahman al-Bizri in Sidon is among the moderates. I will not mention the others, I'm just giving examples to show what 'moderate' means, so that public opinion would understand that we are not only throwing (random) numbers. Now we have: the independent (MPs) that are two segments, 8 moderate (MPs) and 8 negative (MPs).
Host:
- 'negative' in what sense, your eminence?
Qassem:
'Negative' (refers to the MPs who) are against the resistance - Host:
- Completely (against the resistance)? - Qassem:
(Indeed,) completely against the resistance - Host:
- And you have (had) open communication channels with them, but you haven't reached?...
Qassem:
- They are completely against the resistance and the majority probably have ties with the US Embassy and the Saudi Embassy, and their (political path) is settled.
Moving to the fourth segments, now we have four groups (in the new Lebanese Parliament): (1) 'Hezbollah and its allies'; 2) the 'March 14 remnants'; 'the independents'; and 4) 'the NGOs'. 14 (MPs) of 'the NGOs' have won (seats in the parliament). And these NGOs are divided into two segments: 7 moderate (MPs) and 7 (MPs who are) followers of the (US) embassy. That's a surprise (isn't it)! Allow me to give examples, as people may be wondering how NGOs may include moderate (MPs), and yes there are moderates (among them).
Host:
Such as?
Qassem:
What would we say about Charbel Massaad in Jezzine? He's among the moderates. What about Rami Fanj in Tripoli? He (too) is among the moderates. Elias Jradi in Southern (Lebanon) is among the moderates, and (so are) other (MPs from the NGOs).
So, if we want to make a calculation, who is with the resistance and who is against the resistance - I'm not speaking about internal (calculations, because with regards to internal (political matters), all (the blocs) are separate blocs, we no longer have one bloc, not in a formal manner, nor in a non-formal manner. (Therefore), we would have those who are with the path of resistance as (military) resistance (against Israel) but have (other separate) calculations with regards to internal (affairs), (all of such people become) 62 + 8 + 7 = 77 MPs.
If we want to speak about those who are against the path of the resistance, the March 14 remnants are 36, the negative (section) of the independents includes 8, the negative (section) of the NGOs includes 7, (added together), they are equal to 51 (MPs).
(So in total), 51 + 77 = 128 (i.e. the total number of MPs in the Lebanese Parliament). If we would categorize the Parliamentary based on who is with the resistance to Israel and who is against the resistance to Israel, we would have 77 (MPs) with the resistance to Israel.