Danny Haddad – MTV
“President Saad Hariri left Beirut heading to the United Arab Emirates.” This is the last phrase that was published on Hariri’s account on the “X” platform, and it is, in its simplicity, very expressive.
Hariri did not go to the UAE only as a travel destination, but also as a political destination. The truest proof of this is that the day of the founding of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia passed without a congratulation from Hariri, who, as a reminder, also holds Saudi citizenship.
It was noted that the absence from the memorial was not limited only to the head of the Future Movement, but also included its most prominent officials, which suggests that the divorce actually occurred between the two sides, and the Kingdom’s severity in dealing with Hariri was also met with another challenge from Hariri, which he expressed in his speech during his recent visit to Beirut, especially in terms of indicating that “Future” will participate in a ballot in the elections, without deciding whether he will participate as a candidate as well. This is something that provoked the Kingdom, which was behind Hariri’s decision to suspend his political work.
Although “Al-Mustaqbal” avoided addressing the issue of the dispute with Saudi Arabia, and did not publicly acknowledge the existence of a dispute with it, Hariri’s recent visit to Lebanon was the most expressive of this dispute, which had reached the stage of complete estrangement, through the refusal of a number of ambassadors of Arab countries close to Saudi Arabia from visiting the Center House, in addition to the American ambassador’s request to delete his name from the visitors’ list, which prompted officials in “Al-Mustaqbal,” including members of the Political Bureau, to avoid appearing on the “K” media. “They do not have to defend Hariri against Saudi Arabia,” some of them repeated frankly.
However, Saad Hariri, unlike previous times, chose this time to make the dispute more public by not congratulating Saudi Arabia on its founding day, riding, for the first time in this clear image, the wave of Saudi-Emirati disagreement. Note that what Hariri did constitutes a precedent, as he has never been the first Sunni leader in Lebanon, and this is a quality that Hariri maintains despite his long absence from his country, even if he was in a position of complete estrangement from the Kingdom for such a long period.
Hariri certainly realizes that his permanent return to Lebanon and his political work is not possible without reforming the relationship with Saudi Arabia. Even if he forgot about the day the kingdom was founded, the latter’s leadership may not forget this matter easily. The memory of countries is often stronger than the memory of individuals.
