Jumblat rejects presidential 'bargain', warns of vacuum
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has described the calls for a bargain involving the presidency and the PM post as a “heresy,” stressing that there should be “a harmonious team.”
Asked about the Iranian-Saudi reconciliation and its possible impact on Lebanon, Jumblat told al-Akhbar newspaper that “some top leaders in Lebanon” must “understand these changes and head to an acceptable settlement, instead of betting on intransigence and vacuum.”
“Vacuum rekindles my partitioning concerns,” Jumblat warned.
Noting that both Suleiman Franjieh and Michel Mouawad are “confrontation candidates,” the PSP leader said “it’s about time we sought a consensual formula.”
“When I read a statement by (Lebanese Forces leader) Samir Geagea, I get surprised how he says that he prefers vacuum while the lira witnesses a dramatic deterioration every day,” Jumblat added.
“At least this essential matter must be taken into consideration,” the PSP leader said.
Geagea responsed to Jumblat’s accusation later on Tuesday, saying that he has “never preferred vacuum” and that he wants to “keep the chance to fill the presidential post with a real and serious president.”
Asked whether “Hezbollah’s concerns” should be taken into consideration in choosing the president, Jumblat told al-Akhbar: “What concerns? No one can stab the resistance, and I had mentioned that those clinging to so-called international resolutions such as 1559 are living in another world.”
21 March 2023, 14:06
02
Jumblat concerns are overstated. Lebanon is not a tiny nation. Its population is greater than Denmark, Norway or Finland. Many nations with less than a million citizen (Liechtenstein, Monaco, Qatar, UAE, etc) have the highest standard of living. There is a united destiny and an organic link between Christians and Druze. Both survival depend on democracy and independence. This Unity is reinforced by Sunnis. Rafiq & Saad Hariri helped Lebanese Sunnis become the most moderate, tolerant and democratic Sunnis in the world. Sunnis played a key role in Cedar Revolution with Tripoli and Akkar becoming the princesses of the revolution. On the other hand, Hizbollah and Berri created an Iranian culture foreign to Lebanon’s history and traditions. After 2022 elections there are 2 distinct Lebanons with nothing in common and contradictory hopes and aims. Time to plan a peaceful division like in Czechoslovakia so both sides can to live to their full potential.
21 March 2023, 14:20
01
Any compromise with Hizbollah that leaves one Iranian rocket on Lebanese soil is a call for disaster. Everyone knows that there is no recovery and no sovereignty without disarming Hizb. Only then we can start the process of cleansing Lebanon from the political mafia, modernizing our rules and processes, instituting positive neutrality in our laws, rejoining the Arab fold, rebuilding our institutions and banking, and restoring trust with the international community and the diaspora that are the key to Lebanon recovery. Anything else is a waste of time worsening the misery of people in a failed state. Hizb political risk alone will keep interest rate high insuring no economic recovery or investment. Disarming or dividing the country are the only options and soon. Lebanon is dying and not putting all our efforts to reach either solution is a crime.
21 March 2023, 18:14
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Mrowwe. Shia are our scourge. They are the curse of Lebanon. Lebanon resembles more yemen and somalia than monaco and swizerland because of the shias and their berri and their party of death. Shia live on our account like parasites eating our tax money to breed more children without paying elesctricity. And I say shia and not shia political parties because it is they who vote for the party of death and weapons and misery. Lets partition today and in 10 years lets compare gdp.
