MP Alain Aoun pointed Sunday to “the possibility that the Free Patriotic Movement will ally with Hezbollah in the parliamentary elections, despite all the differences between them.”

Speaking in an interview with “Voice of All Lebanon” Radio Channel this morning, Aoun described the decision of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the Future Movement to suspend political work at the current stage as a “huge shock”, deeming it “a decision related to a specific political team and not a comprehensive boycott of the political system.”

He added: “It is not possible to know what the elections will produce in the absence of the Future Movement’s participation.”

Regarding the economic rescue plan, Aoun said that it “requires consensus and support from all political parties so that it does not fail through polarizations at the gates of the elections,” calling on all “to assume their responsibilities to reach a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund before the parliamentary elections,” while emphasizing the need to adopt “progressive taxation”.

Over the state’s annual budget currently under study, Aoun considered that “if it manages to return public sector employees to their offices, it would have fulfilled its purpose,” noting that “discussions will touch on improving revenues so that the increase in employees’ salaries will not be through taxes,” while stressing the need to apply “progressive taxation”.

Asked about Lebanon’s response to the Arab paper and the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons, the MP said: “We do not want problems with the Arab countries, but there are reasons that have led to our current status to which everyone is linked, and Lebanon cannot be asked to solve these problems alone and disarm Hezbollah.”