Central – The situation is not good in the electoral Sunni street, and this is not an emergency in the “Azraq Stream” arena, which was infected by Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s decision with the infection of restlessness, resignations and treasonous statements. After the anniversary of the fourteenth of February, it became clear that Hariri was not in the process of reversing his decision. Rather, he went further by defining the organizational procedures that must be followed by his sons who want to run for candidacy, which means that this page for him has been officially closed, Therefore, it is supposed to start research on how to deal with this entitlement in another way.
Hariri’s decision was preceded by former Prime Minister Tammam Salam by announcing his reluctance to run, while Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced that his direction, so far, is not to run personally, although he hinted that he might go to support a list in the Tripoli-Denia constituency. As for President Fouad Siniora, despite talking regarding his intention to leave his candidacy decision pending until the last moments of closing the candidacy door, i.e. following 24 hours, he became certain that he was unsuccessful in his attempts to mobilize the Sunni street and decided not to run After it was discovered that the symbols of the future will not run in compliance with Hariri’s position. In sum, with the start of the countdown to the elections, all eyes will be directed to the developments that the Sunni arena will produce in terms of voting and candidacy. It is certain that Dar al-Fatwa will not remain a spectator, in light of the absence of the main political current in the sect from the electoral scene.
A member of the “Twenty” group, editor-in-chief of “Al-Liwaa” newspaper, Salah Salam, considered that “the timing of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s decision to suspend work in Lebanon’s political life was embarrassing for the time period and caused confusion and fragmentation of loyalties on the Sunni arena. It is noteworthy that He did not insist on setting alternative plans, as is assumed in similar cases, but the quick contacts that took place between Mufti Abdul Latif Derian and former heads of government led to the reunion of ranks once more by emphasizing not to boycott nomination and voting. Fouad Siniora led to the formation of a list that enjoys the support of the Sunni voices and will have a coalition character, in order not to fragment the Sunni voices, especially in Beirut, as it constitutes the centrality of representation and the Sunni decision.
The reluctance of previous prime ministers to run for office does not cancel out the Sunni presence, nor does it mitigate the glare of the Sunni voice. But there are those who will seize this restlessness and try to seize opportunities, but “Hezbollah will not be the only one who benefits from Hariri’s withdrawal, but all his opponents will benefit, including Hezbollah, despite its adherence to Hariri’s candidacy for prime minister, and this was one of the reasons for the exacerbation of the latter’s crisis with his Arab allies.” Salam reveals to Al Markaziya that “there is a tendency among Hezbollah not to nominate Sunni figures on its lists in order to raise the blame and not provoke the Beiruti public.”
But what regarding the rest of the circles, especially following Hariri opened the door for resignations from the movement for everyone who wants to run, and the last names, not the last of them, are Haitham Moubayed and Bilal Al-Hashimi, who submitted their resignations from the “Future Movement”, and it was decided to consider it effective, similar to what happened with the deputy head of the movement, Dr. Mustafa Alloush? . Salam confirms that the situation in the rest of the districts varies according to the specifics of each one. In Tripoli, for example, he considers, “Mikati’s reluctance does not mean his absence from the arena, and he will support a list that represents him and goes in line with his policies. As for Akkar, the situation is more embarrassing with the emergence of the Arab clan element that constitutes a numerical lever, represented by Representative Muhammad Salman and is likely to have more than one candidate.”
In the western and central Bekaa, the situation is more accurate, especially following the son of the current parliamentarian, Abdel Rahim Murad, headed a list, in addition to the fragmentation of the future public and the entry of candidates for Arab clans who have a significant mass in the constituency on the line.
Salam confirms that “there is a party from the Future Movement that will participate in voting and nomination. Among the candidates is one of the officials in Hariri’s office, Brigadier General Mahmoud Jamal in Beirut’s second district, and Mustafa Alloush, knowing that there is talk regarding his reluctance to run. However, his resignation came due to dissatisfaction with the absence of the Future Movement. Concerning the electoral arena, it confirms the opposite. There are also a number of MPs who took the initiative to run for office, such as Hadi Hobeish and Walid Al-Baarini, and this confirms that there are MPs who did not and will not abide by the decision to suspend political and electoral activity.
Hariri’s withdrawal method on the eve of the elections and the request from his fans and supporters from among the members of the movement to abstain from any activity that indicates his complete withdrawal from political action. Did he realize that politics is not his playground? “The accumulation of mistakes led him to this situation and led to the loss of all his internal and Gulf allies. It is known that politics in Lebanon is not practiced without allies at home and abroad. Even when he made his decision to refrain, he did not consult any of the members of the movement and the previous heads of government were not aware of the matter. It remains that the public alone will decide the extent of loyalty to the current or its insignificance, whether in the candidacy movement or the vote,” concludes Salam.
