The Free Patriotic Movement, founded by Lebanese President Michel Aoun, said that its understanding with Hezbollah had not succeeded in the "state building project," 15 years after its signature.
The party declared - in a statement issued by its political council after a regular meeting on Saturday - that it considers the anniversary of the signing of the "Mar Mikhael Understanding" as an opportunity "to examine this understanding."
On February 6, 2006, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, signed an understanding in Mar Mikhael Church in the capital, Beirut, to work together on a number of issues within the framework of an alliance between the two forces.
The party’s statement - which is currently headed by Gebran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law - said that the understanding “spared Lebanon the evils of sedition and division and protected it from outside attacks, deterring Israel and repelling terrorism, but it did not succeed in the project of building the state and the rule of law.”
He added, "Developing this understanding towards opening new horizons and hopes for the Lebanese is a condition for its viability, as it is no longer needed if those committed to it do not succeed in the battle of building the state."
The statement reflects the fluctuating relationship between the two allies against the backdrop of the escalating economic and political crisis in the country.
Differences between the political forces have prevented the formation of a new government in Lebanon, since Hassan Diab's government resigned days after the catastrophic explosion in Beirut's port on August 4, 2020.
For his part, Parliament member of the Hezbollah bloc, Ali Fayyad, said that the understanding with the Free Patriotic Movement is "steadfast and continuous."
However, he added - in statements carried by Hezbollah's Radio Al-Nour - that "the severe complications that have wracked the Lebanese arena politically and economically, and the disruption of the regional environment over the past years ... has weakened the positive effects" of that understanding.