Disagreement over the issues of Lebanese-Syrian relations and the Resistance’s weapons is responsible for the delay in drafting the ministerial statement, Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra told NOW Lebanon on Thursday.
He added that the ruling bloc was not surprised about the obstructions the ministerial statement drafting committee faced, because “some parties” had adopted a process of imposing their own vision.
Zahra said he hoped to reach an agreement as soon as possible and called on Lebanese parties to carry out their duties and understand that peaceful dialogue was the sole means to reaching political solutions in Lebanon.
The MP emphasized that the March 14 alliance had no problem with the word “Resistance” in the statement, but pointed out that the March 8 coalition insisted on considering the draft of the 2005 cabinet statement, which legitimates the Resistance making war-and-peace decisions.
Zahra told NOW Lebanon that his bloc had stood by its position since the beginning of the conflicts in Beirut. “We refused the use of weapons and powers to impose a political opinion,” he said.
He also commented on Hezbollah’s refusal to discuss the Resistance during the national dialogue in Baabda under the auspices of Lebanese President Michel Sleiman. Hezbollah’s aim was to legitimate the weapons before discussing any strategy, he said, adding that Hezbollah might repeat the experience of July War in 2006, a war for which Lebanon had paid dearly.
Zahra commented that the Change and Reform bloc’s positions toward the Resistance’s weapons were providing a necessary political cover to Hezbollah and Syria’s agenda in Lebanon, adding that the bloc may need to find cover for itself in the near future.
“I hope that Lebanon will take a serious approach to controlling weapons and putting them under the supervision of the state and its constitutional institutions,” Zahra concluded.