The Kataeb Party on Monday commented on President Michel Aoun’s recent remarks on Hizbullah’s arms without naming him, noting that “any arms other than those of the legitimate security forces contradict legally and constitutionally with the state project.”
“The army and the legitimate security forces have the exclusive right to defend the country and its territory, people and institutions,” Kataeb’s political bureau said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.
The bureau “calls for respecting U.N. resolutions pertaining to Lebanon’s sovereignty, especially Resolution 1701,” the statement added.
Aoun had on Saturday said that Hizbullah’s weapons “do not contradict with the State.”
“As long as there is Israeli-occupied land and as long as the army is not strong enough to fight Israel, we sense that there is a need for the presence of the resistance’s arms so that they complete the army’s weapons,” Aoun said in an interview on the Egyptian TV channel CBC.
Separately, Kataeb warned against “further procrastination” in the deliberations aimed at devising a new electoral law, urging an end to “maneuvers” and calling for a “serious approach.”
The party “reiterates its categorical rejection of any attempt to extend the parliament’s term, delay the elections or return to the 1960 law,” the statement said, while also warning against passing an electoral law that would be “tailored” to fit the interests of certain parties.
“The Kataeb Party also renews its call for the president to hold an emergency closed-door meeting in Baabda that comprises all parties, which would only end after reaching an agreement on an electoral law, or else let everyone resort to parliament and let the draft laws be put to a parliamentary vote,” the statement added.
“Although the Kataeb Party considers that a law based on individual districts would secure the most correct and democratic representation, the party is open to any electoral proposal that abides by the unity of standards at the nomination and voting levels and that ensures correct and pluralistic representation inside the confessional communities,” Kataeb added.
