Senior Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammed Raad said on Monday the Iran-backed terrorist group's opponents were seeking its fragmentation and exclusion from power in Lebanon.
Speaking at the presidential palace after Hezbollah lawmakers had met with President Joseph Aoun, Raad said his group had "extended its hand" by helping to secure Aoun's election as Lebanon's president last week, only to find the "hand cut off."
Raad added: “It is our right to demand a ‘charter-based’ (i.e., inclusive) government. Any government that contradicts coexistence has no legitimacy at all.”
Earlier on Monday, President Aoun appointed Nawaf Salam, head of the International Court of Justice, to be the country's new prime minister, having secured the backing of more than 80 members of parliament. This move, according to Reuters, that reflected the weakened position of Hezbollah, which had wanted incumbent Najib Mikati to keep the job.
Aoun's stance
Asharq explained that Aoun, who previously served as commander of the Lebanese army, was instrumental in implementing a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
After being elected, he promised that only Lebanese government forces will have the right to bear arms: Aoun said: “I pledge to exercise my role as supreme commander of the armed forces and as the highest authority of the Supreme Defense Council to affirm the state’s right to a monopoly on weapons.”