Hezbollah on Thursday clarified its stance towards the meeting of the Lebanese government, hitting back at accusations by Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) circles that the resistance party has “broken the promise” regarding attending governmental sessions.

In a statement, Hezbollah’s Media Relations stressed the party’s keenness to handle disputed issues with friends and allies without getting into arguments.

“We don’t want to get into an argument with our friends, despite the fact that several points in (FPM President) Gebran Bassil’s remarks need to be debated. However, we find ourselves concerned to clarify two basic issues to the public opinion.”

Hezbollah Made No Promise on Gov’t Sessions

The first issue, according to the statement, is that Hezbollah has never promised that the government wouldn’t convene unless its factions agreed to do so.

“Following discussions with caretaker PM Najib Mikati and Speaker Nabih Berri we were clear regarding several points:

First: The caretaker government convenes in necessary and urgent situations

Second: When the government convenes, decisions taken during sessions need consensus of its members

Third: Hezbollah didn’t promise the FPM that its ministers would not attend government sessions if the FPM ministers didn’t do so,” the statement said further.

“Accordingly, those who are truthful didn’t break their promise, as it seems that issues were not clear to minister Bassil,” Hezbollah added in the statement.

“Illusive Interpretations”

Hezbollah then stressed that the party’s condition to attend a government session was that its agenda would tackle necessary and urgent issues related to people’s needs that wouldn’t be delayed.

“We decided to attend the governmental meeting after we were assured that the session was only way to deal with people’s needs,” the statement said.

“Giving our participation in the government session political interpretations such as ‘a strong message on electing a new president, or putting pressure on a political party in this regard are all just illusions. The issue is not more than what was mentioned above.”

Hezbollah then concluded that the language of betrayal between the allies was not appropriate, stressing the need to hold dialogue and discussions in a bid to tackle all forms of disputes.

“The rush of some in FMP circles to use the language of betrayal, especially between friends, is unwise and inappropriate behavior.”

Source: Al-Manar English Website