Jemayyel Expresses Will to Meet Hizbullah SG, Praises Dialogue
Head of the Lebanese Phalange Party, Amine Jemayyel, expressed that he is ready to convene with Hizbullah Secretary General, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
In an interview with as-Safir daily, Jemayyel said, "My hand is reached out, [...] and so I don't mind holding a meeting with Sayyed Nasrallah, and having a fruitful and productive result." He recalled how he had met with Sayyed Nasrallah in worse circumstances, after his son Pierre's assassinated.
Commenting on Sayyed Nasrallah's suggestion to convene a national constitutional conference, Jemayyel asserted that the "Phalange party was among the first who demanded to hold a national conference to discuss specific issues like neutrality and the civil state, under the national charter, and through the [government] institutions and not on its expense."
"Sayyed Nasrallah's notion is somehow vague, and needs to be cleared," Jemayyel said, further wondering, "Should we start all over from the beginning, or are there pillars upon which the conference would be built?"
Jemayyel added that the notion of fundamentalism adopted by some parties, preventing them from acknowledging other parties and excluding them, is a threat on the civil state which the Lebanese are calling for. He clarified that he is ready to open broad relations with any Islamic movement that believes in dialogue and does not use weapons to impose its will, noting in this regard that his party received a delegation from the Islamic Jamaa leadership.
Moreover, Jemayyel described the situation in North Lebanon as "scary", and stated, "If we continue the ongoing rhetoric and political violence, it would only lead to escalating the ground and bloody violence, which calls for rapid action to prevent this flow towards vain. The national dialogue might be one of the breaks that could prevent [the country from] tumbling down."
On another hand, Jemayyel believed that the defense strategy has many elements, and does not only rely on weapons, but rather includes the economic factor, internal stability, and additional factors that should be nourished.
Also on the dialogue, Jemayyel expressed fear that the dialogue would be set forth to serve personal accounts, stressing, "It would be beneficial if the dialogue is attended in good faith."
As for those who want to attend the dialogue seeking victory over others, Jemayyel said they already sentenced it to failure, and targeted its goal to seek consensus on mutual visions, away from the win-lose situation, and therefore all parties should be aware that they are taking part in a dialogue that has basics.
Regarding the Syrian crisis, head of the Phalange party asserted that no Lebanese party should include itself in the Syrian crisis. "No one can lead the Phalange anywhere [into the crisis], knowing that it was easier for us to follow the flow, yet we decided to be reasonable instead of emotional," Jemayyel iterated.
Source: as-Safir daily, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
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