Islam Times - Hezbollah, allies hold sway in Lebanon’s new parliament, senior official says

Islam Times - Enemies sought to undermine the political power and popularity of Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah in the recent parliamentary elections but they failed as Hezbollah and its allies held sway in the new parliament, a senior official says.

Vice President of the Executive Council of Hezbollah Sheikh Ali Damoush said on Friday that adversaries in this political war were trying to target the political and popular power of Hezbollah and mobilize supporters of resistance against it. He said the enemies favored a minimum voting rate for the resistance.

Damoush said Lebanon’s current economic woes are in sync with enemy plots. “Nevertheless, they failed. The result [of the parliamentary elections] was that Hezbollah and its allies retained a presence in the new parliament.” The results revealed the turnout in areas populated by resistance supporters was the highest, he said.

He said hundreds of millions of dollars were spent on media and election campaigns to promote figures backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Work has also been done, the official added, to tarnish the image of Hezbollah and marginalize it on the political scene.

Damoush said Hezbollah enjoyed the highest popularity in the recent elections and that its representatives won more than 347,000 votes, thousands above the number of votes it had obtained in 2018. He said what mattered most was that the election results displayed the power, stability, and popularity of the resistance against the ill wishes of the enemies.

Damoush said Hezbollah is satisfied with the election results. The priority of the new parliament and all the political parties, he added, must be to address the people’s issues. The new legislature needs to stay away from hollow slogans.

Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that the resistance achieved a “great victory” in the elections.

He said the large turnout and the outcome of the elections conveyed a message of the people’s commitment to resistance.