Does the relationship between the current and Hezbollah return? The intersection of interests or a re -alliance?

The relationship between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah went through a difficult period after the end of the mandate of President Michel Aoun. During the alliance years between the two parties, the current had a clear political and electoral support from the party, which reached its climax in the parliamentary and presidential benefits. But as soon as Aoun’s state ended, the current adopted a different speech, aiming to win Christian public opinion through the distinction of Hezbollah, especially in light of the international and regional pressure on this alliance. The current thought that he was able to build an independent political reasons, and perhaps closer to the Gulf states and the West, but he collided with the wall of reality.

The attempts of rapprochement with other powers have not succeeded, neither internally nor external. Gibran Bassil did not get what was aspiring to him, whether at the level of the presidency of the Republic or at the level of restoring the Christian influence that began to erode. As for Hezbollah, it was in the position of the observer, refraining from entering into a direct clash, but at the same time stopped the political gifts it was giving the current in the elections and in the distribution of political classes.

The estrangement was perpetuated with the file of naming President Nawaf Salam to head the government, then in the battle to elect the President of the Republic, as the current refused to walk by the party’s candidate Suleiman Franjieh. Then the last Israeli war came on Lebanon in September, to increase the spacing of the two parties, as the current insisted on the “differentiation” speech even at a moment of confrontation.

However, the current municipal elections re -mixed the papers. Habit electoral coordination recorded in several areas between the party and the current, which opened the door to talking about the return of the relationship. However, the facts indicate that the party does not intend to return to the old coalition with its previous conditions. Today it aspires to obtain a wider parliamentary mass, including deputies from different sects, and does not see a interest in granting the current free seats in its areas of influence.

The party does not mind building a positive relationship with the current, but it rejects the logic of the “strategic alliance” that obliges it to defend the current options or always give it a cover. What we may witness in the next stage is the intersection of limited electoral interests, no more. As for the return to the previous relationship, it is without many obstacles and new conditions.