Report: Jumblat Says Hariri Committing Suicide
Head of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc MP Walid Jumblat is expected to call his bloc for a meeting on Saturday for talks on the latest developments as for the presidential file, as he believes that Hariri is committing suicide shall he nominate MP Michel Aoun for the post, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.
Democratic Gathering MPs quoted Jumblat as saying that he “understands” Speaker Nabih Berri's reservation on the way in which Aoun's name was put forward by al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri.
Jumblat believes that “Hariri has acted improperly with Berri. He let him down,” as he pointed out that “the problem does not lie in Aoun's election but in the process post-elections.”
He asked: “Is the (former) PM (Hariri) aware of the negative aspects of his decision if Aoun was elected and Speaker Berri decides to boycott the government? Will Hariri then form a government composed solely of Hizbullah ministers which is rated by Hariri's allies in the Gulf as terrorist? Is he going to form a government with terrorists?”
Sources to Jumblat quoted him as saying that “head of Mustaqbal is committing suicide because no one will be subject to problems like him.”
As for the decision of the PSP leader, Jumblat, on Aoun's nomination, the sources said that he is still hesitant.
If a comprehensive national agreement on Aoun was not reached in Jumblat's bloc when the election session is due, it is likely for PSP leader to let his bloc's partisan MPs vote for Aoun leaving freedom of choice for non-partisan deputies, concluded the sources.
Hariri is expected to endorse founder of the Free Patriotic Movement Aoun for president, a post that has been vacant for almost 30 months.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the mandate of Michel Suleiman expired, amid deep rivalries among Christian and Muslim politicians exacerbated by the conflict in Syria.
Since then parliament, which has twice extended its mandate, has met on 45 occasions to elect a president but deep rivalries and disagreements saw most deputies boycott the sessions.
The assembly is due to convene next week for the 46th time amid high expectations that a president will be elected and that the job will go to Aoun.
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