While Akkar and the Lebanese people are struggling with the painful human disaster of the Akkar explosion, rival political parties have taken to social media to blame each other in a battle of words and accusations.
Since this morning, just hours after the explosion that occurred at 2 AM, the Future Movement (FM) of Saad Hariri and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) of Michel Aoun, headed by Gebran Bassil, have been relentless with their blames against each other.
Members of the FM, including Saad Hariri, started their accusations by calling for the resignations of all ruling officials, including the president.
Expressing grief in a tweet, Saad Hariri issued that “the Akkar massacre is not different from the port massacre.”
“What happened in the two crimes, if there was a state that respects the human, its officials would have resigned, starting with the President of the Republic to the last person responsible for this neglect,” he said, stressing that “the lives and security of the Lebanese are a priority.”
Other members of the FM political party also tweeted holding Michel Aoun and his party responsible for the explosion, calling for the president’s resignation.
“What happened with our people in Akkar tonight is a massacre that claimed the lives of dozens between martyrs and wounded,” MP Mohamad Sleiman tweeted.
He added, “The blood of the martyrs and the wounded is “on the neck” of Michel Aoun and his political team, the first of whom is his son-in-law, Gebran Bassil. The responsibility of what happened must be borne by whoever is responsible and exercises authority, starting with the President of the Republic, who must immediately resign.”
Parliament members representing FM also released a statement calling for the resignation of the president, as well as holding any politicians responsible and bringing them to court.
Meanwhile, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) released a long statement, in which they condemned the Future Movement‘s accusations.
They charged back stating that the owner of the land where the explosion took place has many connections with parliament members of the Future Movement, pointing the finger at Walid Baarini.
Baarini was quick to respond, denying the accusations. He stressed that he isn’t a part of the circle of fuel smugglers. “It is pure slander and rumors to try to whitewash the page of a political group and accuse another group [instead].”
برأي بهيك وقت خليك ساكت ، لانك معروف انك اكبر مهرب بعكار
— Saiid kebbeh (@SaiidKebeh) August 15, 2021
Members of the FPM‘s Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc also accused the FM of being responsible, emphasizing that their party has no connections to the owner of the land.
FPM MP Assaad Dergham said to Al-Jadeed that the FPM in Akkar “does not participate in blocking roads, does not carry out smuggling operations, and does not protect smugglers.”
As for the head of the FPM, Gebran Bassil, he thought to remind that he had previously said that Akkar is overrun by smugglers of fuel, and had called for making it a military district for the protection of its people.
Bassil brought up his earlier statement in which he had claimed Akkar to be “outside the country” due to illegal fuel smuggling.
The war of words and accusations between these two rival political parties continues in a passionate reaction of alleged “care for justice” that wasn’t witnessed in response to the Beirut Explosion and hasn’t been to date.
This is ongoing while the people are calling for help for any and all medical supplies to help the victims, and Akkar and the nation are dealing with another horrific trauma.
