"An Nidaa al-Watan" pointed out that the joint technical committee between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah will hold its first meeting at 10 AM today, tasked with continuing discussions on expanded financial decentralization, one of Bassil's demands for agreement with Hezbollah regarding the presidency. The committee includes from the Movement, MP Alain Aoun and Antoine Constantin, and from the Party, MP Ali Fayad and Abdel Halim Fadlallah. It is also expected that a parallel committee will be formed to discuss the trust fund item, likely including MP Cesar Abi Khalil from the Movement.
Additionally, information indicates that the indications suggest this dialogue is still in its early stages. During a meeting of the political body of the Movement held last Tuesday evening, Bassil clearly responded to a question from Hezbollah regarding the identity of the candidate he would vote for if Speaker Nabih Berri called for an electoral session in the coming weeks, stating that he would vote for Jihad Azour.
This implies that the path of joint dialogue, which has not hindered Bassil's dialogue with opposition forces, is still long. Information reveals that the direct dialogue led by the Movement's leader addresses broad topics of demands declared by him, namely decentralization and the trust fund, while the two committees will handle the formulation of both agreed-upon and disputed articles.
Reports indicate that the discussion began with a proposal by Ziad Baroud, particularly since Hezbollah opposes expanding the concept of decentralization, financially, legislatively, and security-wise. For example, the Aounist team demands that local administrations' revenue collection reach 25% of the state's overall revenue collection, while Hezbollah prefers it not to exceed 7% significantly. Moreover, Hezbollah opposes arming the municipal police.
Thus, it becomes clear that Hezbollah seeks to reach an agreement on a hollow project in its content, resembling administrative decentralization with some limited powers, which contradicts the concept of expanded financial decentralization promoted by Bassil and marketed as an achievement for Christians if realized.
