Hezbollah in Lebanon Confident of Victory
Hezbollah has declared its confidence that it will be victorious in Lebanese elections next year. Currently, the militant group is a minority only by a slim margin, and Hezbollah senior officer Nawaf al Mussawi has asserted that victory in next year’s elections is well within sight. A major point of tension is the relationship between Lebanon and Syria, the nation that militarily occupied Lebanon until the controversial 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, lies in direct contradiction to the current Sunni majority’s anti-Syria platform. The elections are a further concern to a much wider international community, as it will pit Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran, against the US-supported Sunni majority. The US in particular is no doubt concerned by the possibility of Hezbollah coming to power: Washington considers the group a terrorist organization. Despite such political tensions both within Lebanon and beyond its borders, Hezbollah has pledged to remain committed to national unity. Said Mussawi, “We want to make it clear from now that we will want to establish a national unity government…No one can lead Lebanon on his own and without consensus.”
Stefanie Demetriades
