Hezbollah demands Aoun be satisfied before electing new president

 

Deputy Hizbullah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem pledged that there will be no presidential election without prior agreement on a “full basket” of conditions, text of which is available with Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.

 

“We want a consensus president as part of a full basket. The basket includes the election of a president and a group of points that we want to agree on before the election,” Qassem said.

 

“These points are defined and written on a paper that is in Gen. Michel Aoun”s pocket. Go and negotiate with him and we could reach a thorough agreement in 24 hours,” he added.

 

The conditions included in the basket are based on the principle of “partnership,” Qassem said.

 

He stressed that agreeing on his basket is “the solution, today, tomorrow, after tomorrow and until the end of time.”

 

Qassem addressed the majority by saying: “Start dialogue. Delegate a person you deem suitable
to sit with MP Michel Aoun and start negotiating the points.”

 

What could be agreed on, according to Qassem, “requires guarantees. Such guarantees can be agreed on during the dialogue, and they could be an official declaration under French auspices, for example.”

 

After agreement is reached on the basket and declared to the public “we start with (implementing) the settlement by electing a president and the detailed agreements follow suit,” Qassem said.

 

One of the sticking issues, according to Qassem, is the number of ministers loyal to the president in the forthcoming government and whether they would be calculated as part of the opposition share.

 

“All what we are talking about is the structure of the government,” he concluded in reference to the traditional opposition condition of having veto powers in the executive authority.

 

“We call for a quick political solution, if they are ready to accomplish this in a day or two then we are ready day and night,” Qassem said.

 

“Hizbullah insists on consensus and we are prepared to accomplish this as soon as possible,” he concluded.