The Lebanese Parliament gave a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government on Wednesday, 68-12, with two abstentions.
Hezbollah lawmakers left the session without taking part in the vote, signaling their opposition to the government without voting against it. According to official statements and recordings of the session and two-day debate, there were heated exchanges involving other members of the Shi'ite bloc.
Lebanese journalist Youssef Diab said he believed Hezbollah had chosen not to vote against the government and instead withdrew from the session “to save face.”
In previous years, no democratic process or government plan could proceed without Hezbollah’s approval, he told Saudi Arabia’s Al Hadath news channel. Hezbollah’s inability to overturn the government would expose the extent to which it had been weakened, and therefore, withdrawing was preferable, he added.
Indicating division in the Shi’ite bloc, MPs from the Amal Movement voted for Salam’s government. Some of them acknowledged that their vote had not reflected their personal views.
Amal official Qablan Qablan said he was voting to give Salam’s government a vote of confidence “with regret.”
MP: Hezbollah losses, refusal to transfer land to LAF 'brings Israeli occupation'
Although Salam opened and closed the session by discussing his government’s commitment to financial and economic reform, asserting a state monopoly on weapons, the 2027 budget, reconstruction in southern Lebanon, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the country, only the latter seemed to prompt heated outbursts and personal insults on the floor.
Independent Lebanese MP Michael Moawad told Hezbollah lawmakers their losing of wars is what “brings Israeli occupation.” Hezbollah’s refusal to hand Ali Taher Ridge over to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) meant that he could be “handed over to the Israelis,” he said.
“Has the south been destroyed because Nawaf Salam is the head of government, or because Hezbollah has dragged us into war?” Moawad asked, drawing numerous objections from both Amal and Hezbollah lawmakers. “Hezbollah decides on the war, and the government pays the price. Its losing wars have led to occupation. Hezbollah’s refusal to disarm weakens the state in the face of Israel.”
MP Ziad Hawat also accused Hezbollah of bringing the IDF back into the country, an accusation that was interrupted by Hezbollah MP Hussein Jachi, who shouted, “Some of our colleagues think Israel is not an enemy.”
Hezbollah continued to receive criticism from other lawmakers throughout the session. Hours after the initial confrontation, Tripoli-born Sunni MP Achraf Rifi and Hezbollah lawmakers argued over the position of Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Hezbollah’s involvement in the civil war.
Hezbollah refuses to disarm, cede land to government forces
Independent Beirut MP Paula Yakoubian also questioned why Hezbollah had not handed over areas of southern Lebanon without an Israeli presence to the LAF.
“Why doesn’t Hezbollah hand over a map of its weapons to Lebanese negotiators so that they can secure an Israeli withdrawal and the return of displaced people?” she asked.
Independent Beirut MP Ibrahim Mneimné said: “We hear criticism of Hezbollah, but after everything that has happened, they must acknowledge their responsibility.”
Lt.-Col. (res.) Sarit Zehavi, founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, told The Jerusalem Post the developments and widespread condemnations of Hezbollah in the Lebanese Parliament were not a surprise, especially given the widening rift between the pro- and anti-Hezbollah camps in Lebanon.
While the recent vote and comments made during the session were important demonstrations of the attitudes held in Beirut, they did not change the fact that the Lebanese government had failed to take meaningful action to disarm Hezbollah and establish a monopoly over its weapons, she said.