Opposition and Change MPs said that Hezbollah's latest maneuver sent several messages to Lebanon and abroad through the military maneuver it conducted last Sunday in Aaramta, which challenged the majority of the Lebanese and the content of the Arab League Summit declaration in Jeddah.
In a joint statement, the MPs expressed that through this maneuver, Hezbollah wanted to make the Lebanese, the Arabs, and the world understand that its sovereignty is above the sovereignty of the Lebanese state, and that no decision in Lebanon contradicts its will and the will of the regional axis to which it belongs.
According to the statement, the lives of the Lebanese, their present and their future, are hostages to his project, and the order of the state in Lebanon, from the election of a president to the reconfiguration of the executive authority, are hostages to "this ever-present weapon" that imposes power on the rest of the Lebanese.
"The party tells us through the military maneuver that this weapon protects the corrupt and disrupts the institutions, including the government and parliament, prevents reform and stopping the collapse, and strikes Lebanon's relations with the international and Arab communities," the opposition and Change MPs stated.
"He tells Arabs that Article 6 of the Jeddah Declaration, which decisively rejected armed militias outside the scope of state institutions, does not concern him, as he considers himself the state."
"In the face of this new and repeated challenge to the logic of the state," the signatory deputies declared that Hezbollah's military parade is "nothing but a manifestation of the militia it has been practicing for years and completely contradicts the concept of the state with all its standards."
Secondly, in terms of content, they stated that Hezbollah no longer has a place in Lebanese political life, as it has become shunned by most Lebanese people. Therefore, "he cannot impose his political, military, security and economic agendas on the Lebanese state."
The MPs stressed that resolving this "dilemma" became urgent through:
- Ending the armed situation of Hezbollah through the implementation of the Taif Agreement and the constitution emanating from it;
- Implementing Resolutions 1559 and 1701 issued by the UN Security Council;
- Stopping military and security interventions carried out by Hezbollah abroad, and refraining from interfering in the internal affairs of Arab countries, to allow the restoration of Lebanon's historical relations with the international and Arab communities;
- Dismantling the parallel economy that Hezbollah built through smuggling through legal and illegal crossings, encouraging tax evasion, and protecting corruption;
- Hezbollah's political activity, similar to the rest of the Lebanese parties, is under the roof of the constitution, Lebanese laws, democracy, and respect for public freedoms.
The statement concluded that Hezbollah and its allies at home and in the region must be aware that the Lebanese will not submit to the logic of force and arms, no matter the cost.
Accordingly, the signatories confirmed their adherence to defending Lebanon's identity and existence by all political means.
They also affirmed their rejection of any compromise or settlement with weapons at the expense of the state and its absolute sovereignty over its lands and its internal and external decisions, "which can only be exercised through its legitimate institutions and without any guardian or partner."
The statement was cosigned by the following MPs:
Georges Adwan, Samy Gemayel, Waddah Sadek, Michel Moawad, Mark Daou, Michel Douaihy, Fouad Makhzoumi, Ghassan Hasbani, Sethrida Geagea, Nadim Gemayel, Elias Hankach, Ashraf Rifi, Salim Sayegh, George Okais, Nazih Matta, Said El Asmar, Fadi Karam, Adib Abdel Massih, Camille Chamoun, Ghayath Yazbeck, Razi El Hage, Melhem Riachy, Chawky Daccache, Antoine Habachi, Elias Stephan, Pierre Bouassi, Ziad Hawat, Elie Khoury, Ghada Ayoub, Jihad Pakradouni, and Jean Talouzian.