The National Bloc: Mohamad Raad is the leading actor in the border demarcation’s play

The stance by the Head of the “Loyalty to the Resistance” bloc affiliated with “Hezbollah” MP Mohammad Raad about keeping gas buried in the sea indicates complete and frank disregard for the fate of the Lebanese.

How could a high-ranking official who claims to be a representative of the nation dare utter such a statement at a time when Lebanon is going through the worst economic crisis in modern history, and in a situation in which the country is living in complete darkness and undergoing a dramatic power outage which affects people’s daily lives, the economy, hospitals and schools? The important question which arises here is: Where are the Lebanese people in Hezbollah’s calculations?

Why doesn't MP Raad confess to the people how the successive governments – in which Hezbollah is a major part – have relinquished Lebanon's maritime borders and sovereignty? Why doesn't he tell the Lebanese honestly that Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government issued Decree 6433 in 2011 which defines the Lebanese maritime boundaries as comprising regional waters and an Exclusive Economic Zone, and today it refuses to amend it in a way that guarantees negotiations on Line 29 to preserve the Lebanese people’s wealth? Didn’t Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri set the framework agreement for negotiation based on this particular decree? Aren’t all these concessions on a large part of our territorial waters constitute high treason?

Why doesn’t MP Raad tell the people that his allies in the "Free Patriotic Movement" are the ones who evade amending this doomed decree in order to satisfy American ambition and serve personal interests?

No, Mr. Raad, defending the Lebanese people’s interests cannot be achieved through keeping the gas buried in the sea nor through the fake parades. Credibility with your audience cannot be realized by covering up your allies who have made one concession after another. Furthermore, defending the homeland is not by prioritizing foreign interests over the national ones.

Hezbollah may disagree with its allies in the system regarding personal and regional accounts, but they always agree to give priority to their interests over the Lebanese people, and to compromise Lebanon's sovereignty and rights.

In light of the intensification of the international conflicts, it became clear that “Hezbollah” and the system alike are dragging Lebanon into the eye of the storm, and it will once again become a battlefield for others. Holding them accountable has become an absolute necessity, so that we may avoid their evil and spare Lebanon and ourselves greater disasters.