Future bloc urges Hezbollah, FPM “to release republic from captivity”

The Future bloc called on Tuesday Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement “to release the Lebanese Republic from captivity,” asking their MPs to head to parliament to elect a new president for the country.

Lebanon has been plunged into a presidential vacuum after the mandate of President Michel Sleiman ended in May 2014 without the election of a successor.

Deep disputes between rival political parties have thwarted the polls, with Hezbollah and FPM boycotting the election sessions.

The bloc’s comments were made following its weekly meeting whereby the MPs stressed the necessity to deal with the State Security case away from sectarianism.

The cabinet convened earlier on Tuesday and failed to resolve the dispute over the general directorate of state security.

Christian ministers are saying that the agency is being purposely marginalized for being led by a Catholic, Major General Georges Qaraa, who has disputes with his deputy Brigadier General Mohammed al-Tufaili, a Shiite.

The government failed last week to approve any decree on pressing issues as a result of the dispute on the leadership of State Security and the lack of appropriations for the agency.

On another note, the MPs stressed the importance to uncover the illegal internet networks and to impose the appropriate sanctions on the perpetrators.

The Future bloc MPs also condemned the explosion in the southern city of Sidon that targeted and killed a Palestinian official.

The bloc considered that any security aggression in Lebanon is an aggression that targets all Lebanese nationals and the Lebanese state "that is deprived of exercising its sovereignty across all Lebanese territories due to the presence of illegal arms."