Sayyed Nasrallah calls for peaceful gathering and open sit-in Friday in central Beirut

Al-Manar

"Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed the Lebanese in a televised speech on Al-Manar channel calling them to start their peaceful protest Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. (Beirut time) in downtown Beirut to demand the formation of a national unity government.

Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government "has proven it is incompetent and has failed to fulfill its promises and achieve anything significant," Sayyed Nasrallah said

Sayyed Nasrallah said that if we want to build a united Lebanon, we must establish a unity government adding that the decision to go out to the streets was made after the opposition was left with no other legal choice.

He also accused the government of wanting to lead a monopoly and said that it had failed in managing the country’s business.

"The government's failure is the result of its being a one camp's government. In Lebanon, in its ethnic and multicolored composition, one camp cannot rule. This government has proved that it is unable to meet its obligations and it has failed, and therefore we call for a unity government," Sayyed Nasrallah said.

Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Lebanese opposition wants all political powers in Lebanon to be represented in a unity government which will be based on solidarity and understanding.

"Our aspiration if to establish a unity government which will be based on solidarity and understanding, and not on imposing once party's positions on the other," he said.

He added that the protest will begin in Beirut and will spread to all parts of the country saying that the next stage would be to escalate the demonstrations and demand early elections. Sayyed Nasrallah called on his supporters to ensure that the protests are peaceful and civilized and called on them to carry the Lebanese flag only and avoid party banners and posters.

"On Friday, we gather in Beirut, we meet in Beirut, the Arab capital of Lebanon, the capital of the resistance and the capital of national unity, to push our country into this national, logical and intact choice, into these squares, into that position, into that noble and national target. We have been called to meet there and come from across Lebanon, for the sake of this country, its dignity, unity and future," Sayyed Nasrallah said."