Jumblat: Life Has Burdened the People to Suffer Sophistic Policy Statement Debates
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Monday the lengthy debates and discussions that preceded the drafting of the government policy statement and their impact on the daily lives of the people.
He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “Life has burdened the Lebanese people to suffer the ministerial sophistic debates linked to the policy statement.”
“They were forced to be imprisoned in their cars” due to the strict security measures taken in Beirut at the time the panel drafting the statement was meeting on Friday, he lamented, while comparing their situation to that of doomsday.
He also criticized the March 14 commemoration ceremony held on Friday, saying sarcastically: “The people were left stranded in their vehicles for hours and hours due to the security measures that accompanied the poetry festival.”
“The greatest speeches and the most eloquent long poems were recited at the commemoration that the Lebanese people, stuck in their cars, have rarely cared for,” Jumblat said.
The March 14 forces marked on Friday the ninth anniversary of the movement's formation.
“The people are destined to suffer such debates and the show will continue,” the MP stated.
“Rest in peace Kamal Jumblat as fate took him at the appropriate time” before he could witness such days, remarked the lawmaker on the occasion of the anniversary of his father's assassination on March 16, 1977.
“Fate would have it that he was taken from us before he could witness the unprecedented debasement of Lebanese politics that has become devoid of the morals he was committed to,” he stressed.
The policy statement was drafted late on Friday night after arduous discussions between the rival March 8 and 14 camps.
Strict security measures were taken at the time of the ministerial discussions and the March 14 commemoration, resulting in congested traffic in several areas of Beirut, which left people stuck in their cars for several hours.
The March 14 General Secretariat issued an apology on Saturday for the traffic, criticizing the concerned ministries for failing to give a warning to the people over the strict measures.
17 March 2014, 15:20
54
Despite the fact that he is beginning to look more and more like Muppets character, Jumblatt's age has given him perspective. He thinks of his father Kamal much. He knows that he is not half the man that his father Kamal was who stood up for Lebanese Nationalism only to have been murdered for the act, as was Bacher Gamayel, Rafiq Hariri, Gebran Tueini, Musa Sadr and many others. What we have left of a political class are those wise enough to abandon Lebanese Nationalism as a motivation for their involvement in politics.
17 March 2014, 15:22
64
Politics left to the current political class is politics placed into the hands of businessmen who seek only to increase private gains by their activities in the Lebanese political system. A ministry is valued, not for what services it can provide to the people, but for the amount of patronage jobs it gives the Ziam who wins the portfolio, or the amount of money that can be milked by his party.
Jumblatt, thinking of his father is repelled by what he has become, being a member of this class. Geagea too, on principle has declined to participate in the profit taking that is the formation of this latest "government".
17 March 2014, 16:34
00
That's another key problem of Lebanon and the Lebanese: it is considered completely normal that key political positions are attributed by inheritance.....
17 March 2014, 16:53
128
FT, same goes for old man Aoun, why did he ally himself to Hezbollah whom he used to vehemently accuse of being terrorists. And what about the Syrians, the territory is littered with footage of Aoun accusing both. That's why I call them all politicians as Mafia, that simple.
17 March 2014, 17:16
1010
"The Land and the Book" written by W.M. Thomson, Protestant Minister, published in London in 1870.
"Lebanon has about 400,000 inhabitants, gathered into more than six hundred towns, villages and hamlets.
The various religions and sects live together, and practice their conflicting superstitions in close proximity, but the people do not coalesce into one homogeneous community, nor do they regard each other with fraternal feelings. The Sunnites excommunicate the Shiites; both hate the Druse, and all three detest the Nusairiyeh. The Maronites have no particular love for anybody and, in turn,are disliked by all. The Greek Orthodox cannot endure the Greek Catholics - all despise the Jews. "
17 March 2014, 17:17
1010
"No other country in the world, I presume, has such a multiplicity of antagonistic races ; and herein lies the greatest obstacle to any general and permanent amelioration and improvement of their condition, character, and prospects. They can never form one united people , never combine for any important religious or political purpose ; and will therefore remain weak, incapable of self-government, and exposed to the invasions and oppressions of foreigners. Thus it has been, is now, and must long continue to be a people divided, meted out, and trodden down."
17 March 2014, 18:53
36
@ terrorist
junblatt to retire? great but why put his son? do you support the sad reality that parliamentary seats are strictly hereditary??
17 March 2014, 18:54
55
thank you ibinharethreik
well said no more hereditary seats in the parliament
17 March 2014, 19:21
85
Gabby, I love you bro, real good post, sad to say, but some here refuse to accept that Walid Jumblatt made it public some years back that it was the Syrians under Hafez Al Assad that killed his old man.
17 March 2014, 20:10
86
My grandfather was a supporter (though not an official member) of the PSP and a close friend of Kamal Jumblatt. My grandfather was a maronite, so it's true that the party had a considerable Christian following back then. Back when it at least appeared to be an ideological party, and not a front for the sectarian organization that it truly is.
I will tell you this: Kamal Jumblatt was the original traitor in Lebanon. If it were not for this man, maybe the war would not have started, or at least wouldn't have lasted for long. And what was the outcome of the war? Fair distribution of power? Sure, why not but what did it lead to? A fair distribution of power in a country that is no longer worth it. They ruined Lebanon for more power..
17 March 2014, 20:36
97
Thanks phoenix1, we can only say the truth in hopes that at least some will listen.
17 March 2014, 20:38
77
@flamethrower: haha 3anjad. I once said this to a friend who is a PSP supporter, and he made all kinds of excuses. Love the guy, he's my pal, but honestly critical thinking is not required (nor encouraged) in Lebanon.
17 March 2014, 20:37
87
Flamethrower
Not to change subject but I just read your reply on Beiteddine. I visited it like 1 year ago and I was shocked to see the inside is totally empty as opposed to a few years ago it was full of Lebanese antiquities. So I asked someone inside who told me Junblatt packed all the stuff and sold it to Brazilians and various latin American entities
18 March 2014, 00:14
90
“The people were left stranded in their vehicles for hours and hours due to the security measures that accompanied the poetry festival.”
Ouch. That's a pretty hard blow to the Februrary 14 Saudi-Khaliji coalition.
18 March 2014, 12:12
00
@Full Disclosure.... Are you for real??
"HA doesn't care about the money"!!??
"HA only cares about fighting Israel"...
OMG... On what planet are you living...
