Hezbollah Chief calls for participation in Lebanon elections

Shafaq News- Beirut

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem on Tuesday urged Lebanese citizens to turn out for the upcoming parliamentary elections, emphasizing the need to hold the vote on schedule.

Speaking at a memorial ceremony for a senior party figure, Qassem said the elections would reveal “who the people choose and who truly represents them,” pressing the government to intensify efforts toward economic recovery

Lebanon plans to hold its next parliamentary elections in early May. In the previous vote in May 2022, Hezbollah secured 15 seats in the 128-member parliament, while its ally, the Amal Movement, won another 15. Hezbollah lawmaker Mohammad Raad, who heads the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc (Al-Wafa’a lil Moqawama) —the party’s political wing in Lebanon’s parliament— posted the strongest individual result nationwide, winning 48,543 votes in the third southern district of Nabatieh.

Qassem’s remarks came as Lebanon’s government advances plans to confine all weapons to state authority, with particular focus on Hezbollah’s military presence south of the Litani River, a border area extending roughly 30 kilometers. The debate is linked to a ceasefire agreement reached between Hezbollah and Israel on November 27, 2024, which UNIFIL says Israel has violated more than 10,000 times through near-daily attacks that have killed hundreds of people, including women and children.

Hezbollah officials argue that a strong parliamentary bloc provides a political shield for what the group describes as “the Lebanese people’s right to resistance,” framing electoral strength as essential to protecting its role and weapons rather than serving solely as a legislative tool.

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