Lebanese President Michel Aoun said he saw no reason to postpone the parliamentary elections scheduled for May, after former Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his boycott and his withdrawal from political life.
The move opens a new phase in Lebanon’s sectarian politics, adding to the uncertainty facing a country suffering from a financial collapse that poses the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-90 civil war.
Aoun made his statements after meeting with the Grand Mufti of Lebanon and the most important Sunni cleric in the country, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian. Aoun said that he assured the Mufti of “the importance of the role played by the honorable Sunni community in preserving Lebanon’s unity and political diversity and on participating with all components of Lebanon in the national and political life and the entitlements that shape the future of Lebanon and its people.” He added: “We have completed all the preparations for the elections to take place at their appointed times.”
Western countries want the elections to be held on time. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, designated a terrorist group by the United States, and its allies won a majority in parliament in 2018.
The boycott of Hariri and the Future Movement that he follows will affect the 20 seats he won in the 2018 elections, and many of the seats won by other groups that have local alliances with the Future Movement.
Bahaa, Saad Hariri’s older brother, hinted on Friday that he would enter politics, adding that he would continue his father’s career. His media adviser said he would not run in the elections, but would instead support electoral lists. Bahaa harshly criticizes Hezbollah and the consensual method that his brother Saad used in dealing with the group in the past years.