Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri interrupts political career | Politics News

Beirut, Lebanon – Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has announced that he will suspend his participation in political activities and will not run in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The Hariri family has dominated the Sunni political landscape in Lebanon for more than three decades since the end of the country’s civil war in 1990. The Lebanese sectarian system, where parliamentary seats are allocated on a sectarian basis, is made up of a majority of Sunni lawmakers. Hariri’s Future Movement Party.

“I am convinced that there are no positive opportunities for Lebanon because of the Iranian influence, our inability to decide with the international community, internal divisions and sectarian divisions, I am interrupting my work in political life and so are the Future Movements. And I will not run in the elections, nor will the Future Movement, ”Hariri said in a televised statement on Monday.

“We continue to serve our people and our nation, but our decision is to suspend any role or responsibility in the traditional sense of power, representation or politics,” he added.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled for May 15, 2022. Lebanese will go to the polls for the first time since the nationwide uprising in late 2019, and Explosion in the Port of Beirut It killed more than 200 people in August 2020 and leveled several neighborhoods in the capital.

Lebanon is also in turmoil economic crisis it has led more than three-quarters of the population to poverty in just over two years.

Hariri said on Monday that his goal was to prevent another civil war in Lebanon amid growing tensions and improve the well-being of Lebanese, and said his commitments to political opponents to avoid war had weakened his ability to improve the economy.

“These agreements came at my own expense, and could be the reason why the Lebanese cannot improve their lives. History will be the judge of this, ”he said, referring to the loss of personal wealth, local and regional allies.

“Fragmented Spears”

Wire held a meeting last week with his party about his decision to refuse to run in the upcoming general election, but did not make a statement to the press. That day his spokesman denied him what had happened at the meeting.

At the end of October 2020, he was elected Prime Minister-elect as the country’s third term. However, he did he resigned following the political blockade next July and the aftermath of conflicts with President Michel Aoun.

Saad Hariri has been the leader of the Sunni Majority Future Movement party for more than 15 years after the death of Rafic Hariri’s father, business tycoon and former prime minister in February 2005.

Mustafa Allouch, a senior member of the Future Movement, has told Al Jazeera that a significant factor behind Hariri’s decision is the growing influence and political power of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. own or not.

“I will only run if he agrees with me [Hariri] and in a national movement against Hezbollah, ”Allouch said.

In recent years, most of Saad Hariri’s local allies have been highly diplomatic with Hezbollah and government allies. They did not make a commitment and over time only undermined the political power of Hariri and the Future Movement, experts say.

“It simply came to our notice then [is] He has not been able to win the Lebanese elections because of his fragmented alliances and poor support from any group in the house, “said Imad Salamey, an associate professor of Middle East Affairs at the American University of Lebanon, Al Jazeera.

“The country is fighting against a very strong Syrian-Iranian alliance, so it has given up.”

Hariri had close ties to the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia.

However, Lebanon’s relations with the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait have deteriorated in recent months. These GCC states cite Iran-backed Hezbollah participation in the regional conflict, especially in Yemen, against a Saudi-led coalition as a key reason.