FPM-Hezbollah alliance faces unprecedented tension

The Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah have been living in a "Maronite marriage" since they signed the Memorandum of Understanding in Mar Mikhael Church in Chiyah on February 6, 2006. 

Since then, there have been no political disagreements between the two parties.

After just five months, that agreement stood the test of time, especially following the start of the Israeli war on Lebanon in July.

General Michel Aoun stood by Hezbollah that day, defying the world.
The Free Patriotic Movement was the first to receive residents from South Lebanon in Mount Lebanon, which was seen as the foundation for the understanding.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah started repeating in his television appearances that "Aoun's position in the July War is a debt that will last until the Day of Resurrection."

When the Shiite ministers resigned from the government of then Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in 2006, FPM supporters were among the first to join the camp in the Riyad al-Soleh and the Martyrs squares, where they called for the overthrow of the government.

In the 2009 elections, Hezbollah backed the Free Patriotic Movement and repeated its stance in the 2018 and 2022 elections.

In the 2014 presidential elections, Hezbollah made 45 parliamentary sessions lose quorum before achieving the needed result, the election of General Michel Aoun, in the 46th session on October 31, 2016.

 

The Mar Mikhael understanding experienced political ups and downs because the party and the FPM had opposing viewpoints on several issues. The FPM has regularly criticized Hezbollah for not supporting its stances against Amal movement, especially in files related to corruption. 

Nevertheless, despite these ups and downs, neither Nasrallah nor any other Hezbollah MPs have ever criticized or responded to the FPM. Not even once, despite MP Gebran Bassil's occasional attacks.

What hadn't happened between "Dahieh" and "Mirna Chalouhi" since February 6, 2006, did so on December 8, 2022.

On December 8, 2022, Hezbollah violently commented for the first time on Bassil's statements made a few days prior in response to Hezbollah's ministers attending the cabinet session called by Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, defying the FPM's position that the outgoing government cannot exceed the President of the Republic's powers.

In a statement issued by its media relations, Hezbollah confirmed that it did not make a promise to anyone that the caretaker government would not meet until all its components agreed to meet so that Bassil would consider that the Cabinet session that took place was a breach of the promise.

"The truthful ones did not break a promise, and it's possible that Bassil misunderstood the situation and accused the truthful ones of wrongdoing," Hezbollah added.

The statement also made it clear that what Hezbollah had previously said, in agreement with Berri and Mikati, is that the caretaker government will only meet in cases of necessity and urgent need. 

Adding that if the meeting occurs, its decisions will be reached by a unanimous vote of its members. 

"We didn't say the government wouldn't convene after its members agree," the statement added.

The party concluded its statement by considering that giving participation in the cabinet meeting political interpretations or relating to the presidential elections is a mere illusion.

Hezbollah even concluded its statement to Bassil with the following sentence: "Our keenness on friendship and friends remains the ruling in our dealings with any reaction."

What did Hezbollah's leadership mean when it used the word "friend" instead of "ally"?

Has Mar Mikhael's understating reached the point of divorce?"