by aljazeera.com — Timour Azhari — Beirut, Lebanon – Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has said he is charting a new political path from within his party after a 2016 deal with President Michel Aoun that brought him to power became “history”. “I’m here, I’m not going anywhere; I’m staying in my country, in my house among my family and in political work,” Hariri said on Friday, in his first public speech since resigning on October 29 amid widespread protests against a ruling elite blamed for corruption and steering the country into an acute financial crisis. Addressing a crowd of thousands of supporters outside his residence in the capital, Beirut Lebanon’s leading Sunni politician said he had received criticism from within his party over the past months and acknowledged “shortcomings” – but said “the decision now is to enact change”.

“The Future Movement will remain,” he said, referring to his party. His comments came during a public event to mark the 15th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Rafik Hariri was killed along with 21 others when a massive bomb exploded as his convoy passed through the centre of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on February 14, 2005. Prosecutors at The Hague-based Special Tribunal for Lebanon investigating Hariri’s assassination have said that the Syrian government was at the heart of the plot, which was carried out by members of the pro-Iran Hezbollah group. Damascus and Hezbollah have denied involvement. A ruling in the case is expected this year. In defence of ‘Haririism’ Members of the leaderless protest movement, as well as Hariri’s political opponents, have pointed to the policies of Hariri’s father – termed “political Haririism” and dating back to 1992 – as the source of Lebanon’s massive economic woes today. The country is saddled by the third-largest debt burden in the world as a percentage of its gross domestic product and is facing the worst financial crisis in its history, which may soon push it to default on debt repayments. Much of Friday’s event was dedicated to responding to these claims. A video aired at the beginning of the commemoration blamed Lebanon’s dire situation on a “series of obstructions” carried out by Lebanese parties allied with Syria over the years.

Hariri said that parties were continuing to blame “Haririism” today in order to cover for their own failures in governance. He said the obstruction his father had endured at the hands of Syria’s allies continued under his own deal with Aoun, ultimately leading to the uprising Lebanon was currently witnessing. Hariri also lashed out at Gerban Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law and leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), describing him as the “shadow president” who sought to “eliminate” other parties and harmed Lebanon’s relations with Arab states along with Hezbollah. Lebanon’s success depended on good relations with Arab states, Hariri said, adding: “Iran’s cash can solve the problems of a party, not of a country.” Going forward, Hariri said he would continue to uphold ties with historical allies with whom relations have been strained in recent years over his deal with Aoun.

Electric swipe Drawing a comparison between his own dealings and his father’s abilities to garner international support for Lebanon through donor conferences, Hariri pointed to the 2018 CEDRE conference, where the international community pledged $11bn in soft loans to Lebanon, conditional on reforms. But rather than support those reforms, Hariri said that the FPM and its allies first obstructed the formation of a government after Lebanon’s 2018 election, then blocked the government’s work after it was formed, leaving the conference unrealised. He also took aim at the FPM over the country’s decrepit electricity sector, which runs a yearly deficit that has over the years contributed about half of Lebanon’s $87bn public debt. ‘Here to stay’ Following his resignation, which saw him continuing in a caretaker capacity, Hariri had sought to return as prime minister but was ultimately replaced by Prime Minister Hassan Diab, whose cabinet recently gained Parliament’s confidence. “Despite this recent setback, he remains a key figure in Lebanon’s political scene,” Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, told Al Jazeera.

Yahya said Hariri, through the large public event on Friday, was saying he might have lost the battle but it is far from over, while also looking to “reassert his political gravitas vis-a-vis both internal as well as external actors”. Indeed, the heads of the parliamentary blocs of his two main allies, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Forces, attended the gathering in central Beirut. The Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Walid al-Bukhari, was also in attendance. “In the last two months we heard and saw that, ‘oh my, the Future Movement is gone and Saad travelled and isn’t coming back, and Saudi doesn’t want him and America doesn’t want him’,” Hariri said. “Let them hear the truth that the Future Movement … is here to stay.” Earlier, as he was walking through the crowd taking selfies with supporters and greeting officials before his speech, Hariri was closely followed by Lebanon’s Grand Mufti, Abdel-Latif Derian, who then sat beside him. The messaging was clear: Hariri remains the leader of Lebanon’s Sunnis. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

 

Hariri Says Bassil is ‘Shadow President’, Decries ‘2nd Assassination of Rafik Hariri’

by Naharnet — Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri on Friday launched a fierce attack on Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil and lamented that some parties are seeking what he called a second assassination of Rafik Hariri. “President (Michel) Aoun knows that I respect him, but unfortunately I dealt with ‘two presidents’ and I had to deal with a ‘shadow president,’” Hariri said at a rally marking the 15th anniversary of Rafik Hariri’s assassination, apparently referring to Bassil. “The mentality of the wars of elimination wants to eliminate the Progressive Socialist Party, the Lebanese Forces, the protest movement, Harirism and al-Mustaqbal Movement,” Hariri decried, in a jab at Aoun, Bassil and the FPM. “The political settlement has become something of the past and I affirm my alliance with Walid Jumblat,” he added. Reminding of his initial support for Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh’s presidential bid ahead of his endorsement of Aoun, Hariri said “Franjieh’s allies” prevented his election as president. “We saw the settlement as a way to protect the country from civil strife,” Hariri added. He noted that had the Paris II reforms been implemented 18 years ago, the country “would not have reached this collapse.” “Rafik Hariri secured 24/7 power feed but who returned us to power rationing?” Hariri said, apparently referring to Bassil and the FPM. “They wasted seven out of 14 years in the name of the National Pact,” he charged. “The longest scheme of obstruction was staged in the wake of Rafik Hariri’s assassination,” Hariri lamented. He added: “They did not build anything in the country after Rafik Hariri’s assassination.” Hariri also suggested that some parties are “seeking to assassinate Rafik Hariri once again by blaming him for the public debt and the economic collapse.”

Underlining that no one can eliminate al-Mustaqbal Movement from the political scene, Hariri said the Movement will remain in the hearts of its supporters and will continue to “irritate the haters.” He also said that claims that Mustaqbal is seeking the naturalization of refugees in the country are a “farce.” Commenting on recent remarks by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah about the economic crisis, Hariri said “Iran’s cash money can solve the crisis of a party but cannot solve the crisis of a country.” “We support the organization of early elections and the country needs calm,” he added. As for his future as a politician, he said: “I will not leave the country to the unknown and I will not choose strife because I’m the son of Rafik Hariri.” Addressing the Sunni community, Hariri stressed that it was his own decision to leave the premier post. “I heard the voice of the people, because the people demanded a technocrat cabinet,” he said. “I’m staying in my country and home, among my people and in the political life. Al-Mustaqbal Movement is a major movement, the Sunni community will remain here and will go nowhere and the patriotic people will remain here and no one can intimidate them,” Hariri added.