Memorandum of Understanding between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement

• Country/entity

  Lebanon
  
• Region

  Middle East and North Africa
  
• Agreement name

  Memorandum of Understanding between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement
• Date

  6 Feb 2006
• Agreement status

  Multiparty signed/agreed
• Interim arrangement

  Yes
• Agreement/conflict level

  Intrastate/intrastate conflict ( Lebanon's Political Crisis (2005 – ) )
• Stage

  Framework/substantive - partial
• Conflict nature

  Government
• Peace process

  Lebanon peace process
• Parties

  Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah; and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Général Michel Aoun
• Third parties

  -
• Description

  Medium length agreement between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah in the wake of the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon in 2005. The agreement underscore the importance of democratic principles and national reconciliation, in addition to past provisions on victims, and several foreign policy issues, including relations with Israel, Syria and Palestinians within Lebanon.

• Agreement document

  LB_060206_Memorandum of Understanding between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement.pdf | Download PDF

Groups

Gender

State definition

Governance

Power sharing

Human rights and equality

Rights related issues

Rights institutions

Justice sector reform

Socio-economic reconstruction

Land, property and environment

Security sector

Transitional justice

Implementation

Memorandum of Understanding between Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement

6 February 2006

1 – Dialogue

National dialogue is the only avenue to find solutions for Lebanon’s crises on stable and firm bases

that are a reflection of a unifying consensual will.

The following conditions must obtain to ensure its

success:

A. The participation of the parties that have a political, popular and national standing with a

round table as a venue.

B. Transparency, openness, and placing the interests of the nation above any other interest,

through the reliance on self-driven will, and a free and committed Lebanese decisionmaking.

C. Include all issues of a national character and requiring general concordance.

2 – Consensual Democracy

Consensual democracy remains the fundamental basis for governance in Lebanon, because it is the

effective embodiment of the spirit of the Constitution and of the essence of the pact of shared

coexistence.

From this standpoint, any approach for resolving national issues according to a

majority- minority formula remains dependent on historic and social conditions for practicing

effective democracy in which the citizen becomes a self-standing value.

3 – The Electoral Law

The reform and systematization of political life in Lebanon require the adoption of a modern

electoral law (in which proportional representation may be one of its effective variations) that

guarantees the accuracy and equity of popular representation and contributes in accomplishing the

following items:

A. Actuate and develop the role of the political parties in achieving civil society.

B. Limit the influence of political money and sectarian fanaticisms.

C. Make available equal opportunities for using the various media channels.

D. Secure the required means for enabling the expatriate Lebanese to exercise their voting

rights.

We demand the Government and Parliament to commit to the shortest possible

deadline to enact the required electoral law.

4– Building the State

Building a modern State that enjoys the trust of its citizens and is able to meet their needs and

aspirations, and provide them with the sense of security and safety as to their present and future,

requires that State to be erected on strong and solid foundations that make it impervious to

destabilization and periodic crises whenever it is threatened by difficult circumstances or changes.

This requires adhering to the following:

A. Adopt the standards of justice, equality, parity, merit and integrity.

B. An equitable and impartial judiciary is the essential condition for creating a State of rights,

laws and institutions, which is based on:

a. The complete independence of the judiciary as an institution and the selection of

judges with recognized competence in order to activate the work of all courts

b. Respect for the actions of the constitutional institutions;

shelter them from political

polarization;

ensure the continuity of their work;

and prevent their breakdown (the

Judicial Council and the Constitutional Council).

What happened in the

Constitutional Council is an example of such a breakdown, particularly with respect

to the issue of parliamentary challenges submitted to it and which have not yet been

decided.

c. Address corruption at the root, because temporary and pacifying solutions are no

longer sufficient.

They have in fact become a simple exercise in deception that the

beneficiaries of corruption at all levels carry out to perpetuate the theft of the

resources of the State and the citizen.

This requires:

i. Activate the financial and administrative control and inspection institutions

and boards, with the mandate to separate them from the executive power

in order to guarantee that their work is not politicized.

ii. Conduct a complete survey of the pockets of corruption, in preparation for

opening judicial investigations that ensure the prosecution of those

responsible for corruption, and return the embezzled public funds.

iii. Legislate the required laws that contribute to combating corruption in all its

aspects and demand of the government that Lebanon signs on the United

Nations Treaty for Combating Corruption.

iv. Act toward a global administrative reform that ensures that the right person

is assigned to the right position, particularly those whose merit, competence

and integrity are recognized.

This can be accomplished by empowering the

Civil Service Council to assume its full prerogatives.

Timeframes and

deadlines need to be set for actions on these issues because the factor of

time has become critical.

The matter requires solutions that are

simultaneously judicious and rapid and that use the time factor to their

advantage instead of the corrupt using it to theirs.

5– The Missing During the War

To turn the page of the past and have global national reconciliation, all the outstanding files of the

war must be closed.

The file of the missing in the war requires a stance of responsibility to end this

anomalous situation and put the parents’ minds at ease.

The parents cannot be expected to forgive

without respecting their rights to know the fate of their children.

Which is why we ask all the forces

and parties that participated in the war for their full cooperation to uncover the fate of the missing

and the locations of the mass graves.

6– The Lebanese in Israel

Whereas both sides are convinced that the presence of Lebanese citizens in their homeland is better

than their presence in enemy territory, a resolution of the question of the Lebanese residing in Israel

requires a speedy action to ensure their return to their country while taking in consideration all the

political, security and livelihood circumstances surrounding the matter.

On this basis, we issue a call

to them to promptly return to their country at the basis of the call by His Eminence Sayyed Hassan

Nasrallah following the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and the speech delivered by General

Michel Aoun at the first assembly of Parliament.

7– The Security Question

First- political assassinations:

Any form of political assassination is condemned and rejected because

of its violation of basic human rights, the most important foundations of the existence of Lebanon

represented by difference and diversity, and the essence of democracy and its practice.

Therefore,

to the extent that we condemn the assassination of His Excellency the martyr President Rafik Hariri

and all assassinations and assassination attempts that preceded and followed it leading to the

assassination of MP Gibran Tueni, we emphasize the importance of proceeding forward with the

investigation according to the officially-approved mechanisms in order to uncover the truth, which is

an issue that cannot be subjected to any compromise because it is a required condition to achieve

justice and serve it against the criminals, as well as to bring an end to the cycle of murder and

bombings.

For this reason, it is an obligation to distance these issues from any attempts at politically

exploiting them, which would harm their essence and the essence of justice that must remain above

any political conflicts or disagreements.

Second- Security Reforms:

A reform of the Security Services is an inseparable part of the broader

reform process of the basic State institutions, and to rebuild them on sound and solid bases.

Given

the delicate position that the Security Services occupy in protecting and defending a stable security

environment in the country against any breaches or threats, the process of building those Services

must be given special attention.

As such, the government is hereby urged to assume its full

responsibilities as follows:

A. Put in place an integrated security plan based on the centralization of decision in security

matters and a clear definition of enemy versus friend, the foci of security threats, including

the question of terrorism and security breaches that must be addressed.

B. Neutralize the Security Services against any political considerations and patronages, such

that their full loyalty is to the nation alone.

C. Assign the responsibility of the Services to personalities with recognized competence and

integrity.

D. Security measures must not be in conflict with the basic freedoms guaranteed by the

Constitution, with first the freedom of expression and political action that do not threaten

security and public stability.

E. Constitute a joint Parliamentary-Security Services committee that would oversee and control

the reform and building processes of the Security Services.

8– Lebanese-Syrian Relations

The establishment of mutual and sound Lebanese-Syrian relations requires a review of the past

experience and drawing the necessary conclusions and lessons in order to avoid the accumulated

mistakes, blemishes and breaches.

This is in order to pave the way to re-cast these relations on clear

bases on parity and the full and mutual respect for the sovereignty and independence of both States,

and on the grounds of a rejection of a return to any form of foreign tutelage.

Therefore, it is required:

A. That the Lebanese government take all legal measures and procedures pertaining to the

assertion of the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms and present these to the United

Nations, after the Syrian State has declared the Shebaa Farms to be fully Lebanese in

identity.

B. Delineate the borders between Lebanon and Syria, while eliminating the tensions that could

break down the process, as both Lebanon and Syria have a long-standing need to complete

this process as part of an agreement by the two countries.

C. Demand the Syrian State to fully cooperate with the Lebanese State in order to uncover the

fate of the Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons in the absence of provocation, tension and

negativity that would hinder a positive resolution to this file.

D. Establish diplomatic relations between the two countries and provide appropriate conditions

for them, which would move the relation from one between individuals and groups to one

between institutions in order to secure their permanence and constancy.

9– Lebanese-Palestinian Relations

Addressing the Palestinian file requires a global approach that asserts, on one hand, the respect by

the Palestinians of the authority of the Lebanese State and their compliance with its laws, and on the

other hand, the reaffirmation of solidarity with their cause and their recovery of their rights, in

accordance with the following rules:

A. The social condition of the Palestinians requires a strong attention to improving their living

conditions and securing a decent standard for the bases of a dignified human life according

to the mandates of bilateral cooperation and the human rights charter, in addition to giving

them the required facilitations to move inside and outside of Lebanese territory.

B. The Right of Return of the Palestinians is a fundamental and permanent right, and the

rejection of the settling of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon is an issue that has the consensus

of the Lebanese people and cannot be conceded under any circumstance.

C. Define the relationship between the Lebanese State and the Palestinians in a single

institutional Palestinian framework that would be a legitimate representative of the

Palestinian people in Lebanon in a manner conducive to proper coordination and

cooperation.

D. Address the issue of bringing the practice of weapons outside the camps to an end, and

make arrangements for the security situation inside the camps.

This must be done as part of

a serious, responsible and close dialogue between the Lebanese government and the

Palestinians, leading to the exercise of the State’s authority and laws over all Lebanese

territory.

10– The Protection of Lebanon and Preserving its Independence and Sovereignty

The protection of Lebanon and the preservation of its independence and sovereignty are a national

public responsibility and duty, guaranteed by international treaties and the Human Rights Charter,

particularly in confronting any threats or dangers from any source that could harm them.

Therefore, carrying arms is not an objective in itself.

Rather it is an honorable and sacred means that

is exercised by any group whose land is occupied, in a manner identical to the methods of political

resistance.

In this context, Hezbollah’s weapons should be addressed as part of a global approach

that falls within two bounds:

The first bound is the reliance on justifications that meet a national consensus for keeping the

weapons, which would constitute a source of strength for Lebanon and the Lebanese people, and

the other bound is the definition of objective conditions that would lead to a cessation of the

reasons and justifications for keeping those weapons.

Since Israel occupies the Shebaa Farms,

imprisons Lebanese resistance members and threatens Lebanon, the Lebanese people should

assume their responsibilities and share the burden of protecting Lebanon, safeguarding its existence

and security and protecting its independence and sovereignty by:

A. Liberating the Shebaa Farms from the Israeli occupation.

B. Liberating the Lebanese prisoners from Israeli prisons.

C. Protecting Lebanon from Israeli threats through a national dialogue leading to the

formulation of a national defense strategy over which the Lebanese agree to and subscribe

to by assuming its burdens and benefiting from its outcomes.

Général Michel Aoun

Hassan Nasrallah