[ad_1]
BEIRUT – The Free Patriotic Movement founded by Lebanese President Michel Aoun acknowledged on Saturday that its alliance with Hezbollah “has not been successful in the state-building project,” 15 years after its signing.
This position reflects the unprecedented level of fluctuation in the relationship between the two allies in the context of the escalating economic and political crisis and the spread of corruption in the country.
Lebanon has been mired in a political and economic crisis for years, exacerbated by the resignation of the government after the port explosion on August 4, which killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,500.
Since then, Lebanon has dominated the government vacuum, for the most prominent reasons the influence of Hezbollah, which is obstructing the formation of the government, along with its ally President Aoun.
This coincided with popular protests that broke out on October 17, 2019 and led, after 12 days, to the overthrow of the government of Saad Hariri, of which the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah were among the most prominent pillars.
A statement issued by the movement’s political council, which is currently headed by Gebran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, said it considers the anniversary of the signing of the “Mar Mikhael understanding” with Hezbollah, “an occasion to examine this understanding.”
The declaration of the National Movement considered that “the understanding avoided Lebanon the evils of sedition and division and protected it from external attacks, deterred Israel and repelled terrorism, but it did not succeed in the project of building the state and the empire. of the law”.