BEIRUT —
Lebanese politician Michel Moawad on Wednesday urged lawmakers to back his bid
for the presidency, denouncing
Hezbollah’s “stranglehold” on the crisis-hit
country.
اضافة اعلان
MPs have been
unable to pick a successor to President Michel Aoun whose term ends next week,
stoking fears of a political crisis that would further compound three years of
economic meltdown.
“I am practically
the only serious candidate running for the presidency,” Moawad told AFP in an
interview, adding that he had “support from a large majority of the
opposition”.
Moawad, 50, is the
presidential candidate who received the largest backing in Lebanon’s divided
parliament, mostly from lawmakers opposed to the powerful Hezbollah movement.
But he is still far
from securing the number of votes needed to snatch the position.
“To change the
balance of power, we must first unite the opposition, because we are divided,”
said Moawad.
He said that
“Hezbollah’s stranglehold” on Lebanon has pushed the country further into
“Iran’s sphere of influence”, and accused the group of trying to impose a
candidate who abides by its rules.
Hezbollah has
slammed Moawad’s close ties to the
US and urged political parties to vote for a
consensual candidate.
“A consensual
candidate is someone who submits to Hezbollah’s regional and internal
policies,” said Moawad.
“Lebanon today
faces an existential danger. The state is disappearing, people are becoming
poorer and migrating” he said, referring to the country’s financial meltdown.
Moawad is the son
of Lebanon’s first post-civil war president Rene Moawad who was assassinated 17
days after his election in 1989. His family accuses Syria, which dominated
Lebanon at the time, of killing him.
Moawad said he is
aware of the dangers of political life in Lebanon.
“I know very well
what the risks are, ... and I am ready to take them,” he said, adding that he
was facing “parties, and sometimes states who do not hesitate to assassinate
people, when these people prove that they can make a change.”
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