Kataeb Secretary-General Serge Dagher on Monday stressed that Hezbollah holds sway over Lebanon, deeming the Kuwaiti initiative as last notice to end Lebanon’s unending crises.

 

“The Kuwaiti initiative is no longer the last chance rather the last notice. The only way to lift the country out is by obtaining a financial rescue package to rekindle an economy that has been in free-fall for two years,” Dagher said in an interview on Sawt Beirut International.

 

The Kuwaiti initiative is a list of conditions for the rehabilitation of the troubled relations between Beirut and the Gulf monarchies as well as the implementation of international resolutions, including UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of all militias including Hezbollah; a return to the policy of distancing and non-interference in the affairs of Arab countries and in particular the Gulf countries; control of borders and crossing points; as well as the strengthening of security measures at the airport to prevent drug trafficking to Saudi Arabia.

 

The proposal also calls for the implementation of political and financial reforms in accordance with the terms of the International Monetary Fund and the international community.

 

Dagher deemed the 2016 Maarab agreement between the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement and the adoption of an electoral law that gave a majority for Hezbollah as main reasons for the situation that we have come to.

 

“We, as the Kataeb party have refused to elect Aoun whose Hezbollah’s ally. The presidential settlement that elected Aoun and the electoral law that gave the majority to Hezbollah contributed to the bad situation we are experiencing today,” he added.

 

“The upcoming parliamentary elections are a big challenge so as to make Hezbollah lose its parliamentary majority.If the Lebanese people elect the same ruling elite in the upcoming parliamentary elections we will face a big problem but I think they seek change," he emphasized.

 

Dagher also stressed the necessity to develop and implement the Taif Agreement.

 

The Taif Agreement had two main objectives: the reform of Lebanon's political system and the disarming and dissolution of the country's multiple militias.