Hezbollah withdraws from gov't confidence vote to 'save face' as MPs confront lawmakers over war

The Lebanese Parliament renewed confidence in Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government on Wednesday, with 68 lawmakers voting in favor despite some Hezbollah lawmakers withdrawing from the session and heated exchanges involving other members of the Shiite bloc, according to official statements and recordings of the session.

The two-day debate ended with 12 lawmakers voting against Salam’s government and two abstaining. Hezbollah lawmakers left the session without taking part in the confidence vote, signaling their opposition to the government while stopping short of voting against it.

Lebanese journalist Youssef Diab told Al Hadath that he believed Hezbollah had chosen not to vote against the government and instead withdraw from the session “to save face.” He said that in previous years, no democratic process or government plan could proceed without Hezbollah’s approval, arguing that the group’s inability to overturn the government would expose the extent to which it had been weakened and that withdrawing was, therefore, preferable.

Dividing the Shiite bloc, MPs from the Amal Movement voted in favor of Salam’s government, even as some lawmakers acknowledged that their vote did not reflect their personal views.

Amal official Qablan Qablan said he was voting to give Salam’s government confidence “with regret.”

MP: Hezbollah losses, refusal to transfer land to LAF 'brings Israeli occupation'

Though 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 that it was the group’s losing of wars that “brings Israeli occupation.” He also noted that Hezbollah’s refusal to hand Ali Taher over to the Lebanese Armed Forces meant that he could be “handed over to the Israelis.”

“Has the South been destroyed because Nawaf Salam is head of government, or because Hezbollah has dragged us into war?” Moawad asked, drawing numerous objections from lawmakers from both Amal and Hezbollah. “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, Sunni Tripoli 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 Lebanese Armed Forces.

“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 demanded.

“We hear criticism of Hezbollah, but after everything that has happened, they must acknowledge their responsibility,” independent Beirut MP Ibrahim Mneimné said.

Lt.-Col. (Res.) Sarit Zehavi, the founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, told The Jerusalem Post that 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.

She added that while the recent vote and the comments made during the session were “important” demonstrations of the attitudes held in Beirut, they didn’t change the fact that the Lebanese government has failed to take meaningful action to disarm Hezbollah and establish a monopoly over its weapons.