INTERVIEW: The long-standing dispute between the Lebanese government – backed by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia – and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran turned violent in Beirut Wednesday, after what initially began as a strike over wage demands quickly degenerated into gun battles and once again raised the specter of the civil war.

But not all Lebanese politicians are worried over a confrontation with Hezbollah. In fact, one welcomed a showdown, saying that only severe pressure on the group will move Lebanon forward.

Ahmad El Assaad, chairman of LOG – Lebanese Option Group – told the Middle East Times in an interview during a visit in Washington, that his Shiite political party is "trying to salvage Lebanon."

"We believe that Lebanon will be salvaged by breaking the monopoly of Hezbollah on the Shiite community, because as long as Hezbollah have that monopoly they will be able to block the process of moving toward the goal of a modern 21st century Lebanon," El Assaad said. "This is because Hezbollah's agenda is not Lebanese, it's an Iranian agenda and it is opposite to what most people in Lebanon want: a prosperous modern and central government."

"As long as they [Hezbollah] are claiming to be the only ones speaking in the name of the Shiite community, they will block that forward-moving process. So, the only way to move forward is to break the monopoly of Hezbollah on the Shiite community," said El Assaad, son of former Lebanese Parliament Speaker Kamel El Assaad.

El Assaad admitted it is difficult, but said, "Great things are always difficult."

He proposes "pushing for an electoral law based on proportionality." That does not mean, however, that he is calling for a change in the complicated and delicate Lebanese electoral structure.

"We do not want to have the numbers of the Christian parliament members different than they are today; everything stays the same – 64 [seats] for the Christians and 64 for the Muslims. The only difference is that instead of the winner taking all, for example 51 percent gets all the seats in whatever district, we want to have proportional representation, so that if we get 40 percent of the votes in the south, or in the Bekaa, we will get 40 percent of the parliament members.

"Therefore, you'll have what now is missing: a truly official Lebanese Shiite partner in parliament that can work hand in hand to establish the Lebanon we all want.

"We know for certain that under the present circumstances, with the weapons and the money, Hezbollah has an advantage. If an electoral system based on proportionality was adopted, we would have an opposition in the south and the Bekaa of at least 30 percent of Shiite votes, and therefore 30 percent of parliament members.

"And then you would have a block of 15 true Lebanese Shiite MPs who could be partners of the other communities in order to move toward a Lebanon we all want. And then Hezbollah could no longer say that they alone represent the Shiites."

El Assaad said he is aware that he needs to win the hearts and minds of the Shiite community, just as Hezbollah has done, by building long-term projects such as schools, hospitals, day-care centers, dispensaries, etc.

"Let's not kid ourselves," El Assaad said. "Hezbollah is strong not because people believe in their rhetoric; people don't believe in this blah blah. Hezbollah is strong because they have money and they have a huge social network. And by building the social network, they are keeping people in need of them.

"So we need to start another social network, we also need to have something on the ground that will be a substitute and that will actually help people free themselves from the grip of Hezbollah. For that we need the help of the international community, and that is what we are pushing for."

Asked if he did not fear that Hezbollah would physically prevent his organization from competing with the members of the Party of God, the Lebanese politician replied: "We have people on the ground. We are not just a bunch of intellectuals making theories [from] behind our desks. We are people who have men and women on the ground; and men and women who are willing to confront Hezbollah and fight Hezbollah."

El Assaad criticized Hezbollah saying, "they're the ones who are contradicting, they are the ones who have let down our great Shiite tradition, because what is now preached in the name of the Shiite are actually complete opposites to what Shiism is. Shiism has always been a modern version of Islam, because we have "ijtihad" in Shiism, which allows people to have different opinions and interpretations. This is the solid base of Shiism."

He accused "Hezbollah and their masters in Iran" of doing "the complete opposite of Shiism," explaining that if you don't agree with them, "they immediately label you as not Muslim and not Shiite."

This type of behavior, he said, "is a direct contradiction to what our Imam Hussein did in his revolution, even though he knew he was going to be martyred. Imam Hussein made his revolution, because he did not want Islam to be mobilized in one philosophy. So what is now being preached in the name of Islam and Shiism is actually a contradiction of Islam."

El Assaad, who hopes to compete for the leadership of the Lebanese Shiites, said his political movement is composed of "true Shiites, proud of our tradition, proud of our history, but we are first of all Lebanese."

He explained his vision for the future was to build a modern Lebanon that operated hand in hand with Shiite philosophy.

Highly critical of the Iranian interference in his country, he said: "We want to make sure that people understand this is all a forgery that has happened since the Iranian regime took power."

Turning to the Sunnis, he said: "These people who call themselves Islamists on the Sunni side have also nothing to do with Islam. It is known through history that Islam is based on respecting others' opinions, on fairness, on talking with each other."

"All these Islamic movements, be they Shiite or Sunni, have nothing to do with the true spirit of Islam," he said. "They hijacked Islam."