Gemayel: Lebanon is Occupied and We're Living under Hizbullah's Tutelage

Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel decried Wednesday that “Lebanon is occupied” and that the Lebanese “are living under Hizbullah's tutelage.”

“Stability should be accompanied by sovereignty, freedom and real democracy, and unfortunately they are asking us today to choose between freedom and stability in the vein of the Syrian era,” Gemayel said in an interview on Future TV.

“We are living under Hizbullah's tutelage over Lebanon and a local party does not have the right to impose its agenda on all Lebanese,” he added.

Commenting on calls for stability that followed Prime Minister Saad Hariri's shock resignation from Riyadh, Gemayel said: “We all want stability but it should not be an excuse to force Lebanese to live under tutelage.”

“We have not forgotten what happened on May 7, (2008) when (Hizbullah's) weapons were used domestically. The weapons are put on the table and may be used at any given moment,” Gemayel added.

“Lebanon is occupied, the state's decision is hijacked and the Lebanese are not the masters of their fate. The presidential vote was the best example,” he went on to say.

As for Hariri's unusual resignation from Saudi Arabia, which he reversed last week, Gemayel said he “did not like the manner in which Hariri resigned from outside the country.”

“Hariri is apparently clinging to the settlement and this is something I'm still against,” Kataeb's chief added.

“Our problem with the settlement is that it is a settlement built upon interests, not a vision for the country,” he explained.

Hariri had said Monday that he would resign if Hizbullah refuses to accept a new power-sharing arrangement for Lebanon.

The premier announced he was resigning Nov. 4, but walked it back after returning home last week.

The original announcement, made from the Saudi capital of Riyadh, was widely seen as orchestrated by Saudi Arabia to pressure Lebanon's politicians into taking stronger measures to contain Hizbullah's influence. Hariri said Monday he wanted to send a "positive shock" across Lebanon through his resignation, and denied that Saudi officials forced him to resign.

Hariri has demanded that Hizbullah remove itself from regional conflicts, from Syria to Iraq and Bahrain and Yemen. Hizbullah denies playing a military role in Yemen but has fighters in both Iraq and Syria.