MP Mouawad: Lebanon”s Main Challenges are Hizbullah Weapons and its Mini-State
Mouawad, in an interview with Naharnet, said the "main obstacle blocking the building of state and state institution is Hizbullah weapons and the Hizbullah mini-state."
This issue should be settled prior to discussing any other topic," Mouawad stressed.
She warned that "there would be no parliamentary elections or other (political) functions as long as weapons remain in the hands of Hizbullah and other parties of the May 7" events.
That was a direct reference to the serial attacks carried out by Hizbullah and its allies in Beirut and other provinces more than two months ago.
Mouawad said the Doha Accord and President Michel Suleiman”s oath address "should be the intro and base for the cabinet”s policy statement."
Such a statement, she added, should call for launching "national dialogue under the auspices of the president."
The proposed national dialogue also should enjoy comprehensive Arab sponsorship, including participation by the Arab League, Mouawad added.
In answering a question about Lebanese-Syrian relations, the MP said: "We should give this issue a chance."
"We”ve sacrificed a lot and we are ready to sacrifice even more. Hostility towards Syria is not our target," she said.
"We want to regain Lebanon”s rights, we want to coexist with a Syrian regime that respects these rights," she added.
Political life, according to Mouawad, is "not related to a cabinet seat or a parliamentary seat."
"I am very satisfied with this cabinet and I feel fully represented in it through Nassib Lahoud and all our March 14 colleagues," Mouawad stressed.
Mouawad declared that her son and heir, Michel, would represent the clan in the 2009 parliamentary elections.
She said the main challenge during the cabinet line up discussions was to represent "independent" Christian forces of the March 14 alliance "and they are represented by Nassib Lahoud."
Mouawad said her future political effort would focus on allowing Lebanese immigrants to be "part of Lebanon”s decision-making process."
She said the March 14 alliance is "reconsidering its organizational structure … in light of what we witnessed on the seventh of May."
"I admit that we had made mistakes, but the Lebanese people clearly recognize after the seventh of May that there are two colliding agendas and the people would have to decide in the elections which Lebanon we want."
"There is no such a thing as national entente. We have two colliding agendas," Mouawad stressed.
"The policy statement of the new cabinet cannot be a copy of the policy statement of the cabinet formed in 2005," Mouawad declared.
"The policy statement should not include vague phrases," she added.
She declared support for President Michel Suleiman”s approach in handling relations with Syria, emphasizing: "There would be no rapprochement at the expense of the truth."
"We are not worried about the international tribunal," she stressed.
The French rapprochement with Syria, according to Mouawad, aims at "separating the path of Damascus from that of Iran."
"That is why we told Hizbullah not to place bets on foreign powers and to return to the option of Lebanon first."
"The Syrian regime realizes that it cannot survive in isolation," she added.
She said the recently concluded prisoner swap is an "accomplishment for the whole of Lebanon, although we had hoped that the deal would be between the state of Lebanon and the Israeli entity."
"What is more important is that the prisoners” file has been closed. We wish the same for the files of Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails and the missing Lebanese," she added.
By Dalia Nehme