Report: Ministers Loyal to Jumblat to Boycott Cabinet Session

The representatives of National Struggle Front leader Walid Jumblat in the government will boycott a cabinet session next week over his rejection to go ahead with the June parliamentary elections due to the worsening security situation in the country, media reports said Saturday.

Several dailies expected the three ministers representing Jumblat in caretaker Premier Najib Miqati's government to boycott Monday's session that is aimed at forming the authority that will supervise the polls and guaranteeing the funds necessary for the interior ministry to organize the elections.

On Friday, Jumblat, who is also the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, announced his support for extending parliament's term, rejecting “the elections farce.”

“Amid these bleak circumstances, I don't think that it is useful to engage in the elections farce,” said Jumblat after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh.

He called for extending parliament's term “because we can't hold elections in this tense atmosphere.”

Caretaker Minister Wael Abu Faour, who is loyal to Jumblat, told An Nahar daily in comments published Saturday that the priority of the PSP chief was to preserve state institutions and mainly the army which should be kept away from the political bickering.

Jumblat fears that the ongoing fighting in the northern city of Tripoli would lead to the explosion of the security situation in the entire country, Abu Faour said.