Elections the way forward, Hezbollah says

BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 31 (UPI) -- The upcoming June parliamentary elections in Lebanon provide a chance for the country to overcome corruption and external influence, Hezbollah officials said.

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheik Naim Qassem stressed the importance of the June elections, saying they would secure the objectives of the resistance movement in Lebanon, the Web site of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon reports.

"It also offers a new experience to compensate for what Lebanon lost in the recent stretch of time, to bring the country to a phase of solutions and treatments and put an end to the corruption and outside ambitions in Lebanon," he said.

Qassem called for what he described as "domestic coherence" since regional ambitions by Israel and its American allies have faltered in the region, the report said.

Hezbollah emerged as a dominant political force in Lebanon in the wake of the 2006 conflict with Israel.

The March 8 coalition, supported by Hezbollah, is expected to launch a considerable challenge to the pro-Western March 14 slate in the June elections.