Nasrallah Accepts Election Defeat, Says No Need to Worry Poll Results as Resistance a Popular Choice
Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accepted the defeat of the March 8 alliance in parliamentary elections but stressed that there is no need to worry about the poll outcomes because the resistance is a popular choice which was proved in the turnouts of the votes.
"We accept the official results with sportsmanship and in a democratic way," Nasrallah said in a televised address a day after elections.
Nasrallah vowed that the reform project which the opposition has placed will be "followed if the opposition is in the next government or not."
"The resistance choice is not a choice of an armed group, but a popular choice proved in recent elections," Nasrallah said.
He stressed that the choice of a strong state is also the choice of the resistance.
"We are facing all level challenges, the cooperation by all parties is needed and this is related to the will of the other political groups," Nasrallah added.
He congratulated his political rivals.
"I would like to congratulate all those who won, those in the majority and those in the opposition," he said.
"We accept the fact that the competition won a majority while the opposition retained its presence in parliament," Nasrallah said.
He thanked the "popular support" for the resistance from southerners living in "dangerous" border towns.
Nasrallah said opposition leaders would meet soon to agree on a joint position on the naming of a new prime minister and the formation of a new government.
Washington renewed its support for Lebanon after the election victory by the anti-Syrian March 14 coalition. President Barack Obama said the U.S. would "continue to support a sovereign and independent Lebanon, committed to peace."
"It is our sincere hope that the next government will continue along the path toward building a sovereign, independent and stable Lebanon," Obama said in a statement.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon called on Lebanese to respect the results and hoped the process to start forming a Cabinet would begin immediately, his spokesman Farhan Haq said.
Hizbullah sees veto rights as vital to ward off any challenge to its status as an armed organization resisting Israel.
Hizbullah and AMAL Movement of Speaker Nabih Berri swept to victory in predominantly Shiite districts. A defeat, however, by Christian ally Gen. Michel Aoun in the major districts of Zahle and Ashrafiyeh deprived the opposition of the majority it had sought.
Nasrallah pledged to "follow up on the reform plan" which the opposition has placed "whether the opposition is in the next government or not."
The head of the Shiite militant movement urged the new MPs to "preserve the faith" of their electors. "All of them must know that they have a responsibility towards the people and this nation," Nasrallah said.
He declined to discuss the formation of a new government, saying it "needs consultations with all the members of the opposition."