So I finally had a chance to listen to Nasrallah’s speech

 

Some of the more salient points are as follows:

1) Nasrallah categorically rejected the fall of the government, the dissolution of parliament and the call for early elections

2) He fear-mongered about the country falling into a vacuum in case the government fell; thus the need to maintain the current government

3) He commended the reforms proposed by our PM Hariri and suggested that this was an accomplishment due to the protesters and that the government was serious about implementing these reforms

4) He payed lip service to economic demands by protesters and asked them to designate representatives to negotiate with the government

5) He cast aspersions on the sources of funding for the protests, mentioning political sects and foreign embassies as possible “behind the scene” actors that were partially bankrolling the protest movement and that were trying to exploit the situation, and made strange accusations about people checking IDs at roadblocks (silently alluding to the worst days of the civil war), and asking for bribes to allow cars to pass through

Surely Nasrallah knows that the majority have no faith in this government’s ability to rule or to implement any of the proposed reforms. His speech will probably be satisfying only to committed Hizballah supporters (and their allies). Everyone else will be somewhere between disgusted and disappointed (especially the allegation of foreign funding). I know several well-known Lebanese leftists who expressed disappointment. After hearing his first speech at the beginning of the uprising, I’m not too surprised by this speech. At this point, it’s clear that Nasrallah is throwing his lot with the ruling class and providing cover for the corrupt government.

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