Jumblat Calls on Hariri to Return 'Immediately' to Head All-Embracing Cabinet
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat urged al-Mustaqbal movement chief Saad Hariri to return to Lebanon soon as “there are no excuses that could justify his absence.”
“I call on Hariri to return and head an all-embracing cabinet (after the election of a new president) to avert further tension and crises,” Jumblat said in an interview with As Safir newspaper.
The Druze leader stressed that latest discussions among the political arch-foes don't indicate that Wednesday's parliamentary session will lack the required quorum, prompting Speaker Nabih Berri to postpone it.
Lawmakers must pick a replacement for President Michel Suleiman before his term expires at midnight May 24. He leaves Baabda Palace the next day.
“Nothing signals that the needed two thirds (of the 128 lawmakers) quorum would be met during next weeks' legislative sessions set to elect a new president, especially due to the lack of consensus over a candidate,” Jumblat noted.
He noted that he will exert efforts to reach common ground among the rival parties over the name of the new head of state.
Jumblat said that he is holding on to his candidate for the presidency MP Henri Helou.
“It's in the country's best interest to elect a president ahead of the end of President Michel Suleiman's tenure on May 25 to avoid any vacuum,” he told As Safir daily.
Jumblat said that he will agree on any candidate capable of “managing the crisis in the Lebanon, ending tension and could contribute to rapprochement between the various components of the Lebanese and political camps.”
On Wednesday, MPs failed to elect a president after no candidate secured the two-thirds of the votes needed to win and many lawmakers cast blank ballots and then left the parliament hall, leading to a lack of quorum.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who was backed by the March 14 alliance, received the votes of only 48 MPs.
Sixteen lawmakers voted for Aley MP Henri Helou, one for Kataeb party chief ex-President Amin Gemayel and 52 MPs, mainly March 8 alliance members, cast blank ballots.
During the second round next Wednesday, the winning candidate will need a simple majority of 65 votes.
-H.K.
-D.A.
26 April 2014, 08:35
36
amazing!
now that hizbushaitan is in deep trouble they call on Hariri to come back.
the way I see it is that hizbushaitan involvement in Syria and previous actions, plus their threats and murders, are responsible for all the sectarian issues we are now facing.
if Hariri is to come back, there is a major price that hizbushaitan must pay: all weapons must be handed over to the state, otherwise, let them rot in what they created.
let us stop fixing what they are doing, so that the people know exactly who is destroying the country.
27 April 2014, 02:23
10
Geha, you speak like if Hizb were Lebanese denizens with a conscience. Don't be so naïve. With every bomb that lands in Lebanon, Hizb's instinct is to check if that's harmed Iranian interests.
They probably wouldn't assassinate Saad right away - after all, everybody expects them to, not least of all their own groupies, and it would not blow back too kindly on Iran if Saad was indeed assassinated right away in Lebanon. No, it is in Hizb's interests that Saad remain away from Lebanon for as long as is needed for the Hariri influence to wane enough so that when he will, inevitably, be murdered by the Ayatollah's thugs, few people would care enough.
Jumblatt needs Saad in Lebanon to bolster his own credibility - can you imagine how Walid's credentials would soar if he was to be credited with bringing back Hariri? That, however, doesn't mean that Jumblatt and his party won't stab Saad in the back should it be convenient for them.
Isn't it grand, being Lebanese?
26 April 2014, 08:48
37
One of the most erratic politicians of modern times who bases his vision and political moves based on purely sectarian biases. Now, he calls on Hariri to come back and head another national unity government when he stabbed him in the back several times in the past. Miqati, faisal karami would have never been voted MPs had it not been for Hariri's mustaqbal. Jumblatt who now calls himself a centrist would have never had the number of MPs that he currently has had it not been for Hariri and Mustaqbal. History will judge this character as a whimsical selfish vision-less politician.
26 April 2014, 12:06
42
I disagree with Mr. Jumblat, even if I would want to see Saad Hariri return, but my question remains, who is going to assure his protection, Jumblat? Now that we've entered the election process, can we afford the high risk of more assassinations of M14 personalities just to reduce their voice in parliament? Jumblat knows what message he was sent earlier this week, please Walid Beyk, don't play with words.
26 April 2014, 15:28
23
Could it be that age (I'm kinda old now, you know and I'm sure Phoenix is about the same age) thought us to put the interest of 10452 sqr km ahead of the immediate interest of the party to which we belong? Have you experienced civil war? Have you fought in one? Do you want to get back to a situation where an area from the high Metn to the sea and from the green line to Batroun is a virtual ghetto, or do you want a united country where all parties sacrifice a little for the sake of harmony and a future for our kids?
Your "moo" didn't go unnoticed. I sacrificed my youth and my health fighting the Syrians, defending you. 3ayb. Ste7é.
26 April 2014, 16:00
21
Hi Jabal, I am tempted to toe Wolf's line but I know it won't go far, yet it would have been ideal. However even if Geagea is our current boss at the LF, I know that his mandate will be riddled by too many things, which I believe is an issue which we all have already covered amply. Under the current situation, I would be happy to see Demyanos Kattar, or Baroud, otherwise if la 7awla wala qouwati, then General Qahwaji would be best to have for that seat.
26 April 2014, 13:26
00
No elections will take place. We are heading to a vaccuum. No one wants a strong president. Bunch of fools, playing with people's lives. We have to stop supporting every single figure who was engaged between '75 till now. Someone has to put an end to this.
26 April 2014, 19:36
01
Yaa Bani Maarouf, ya Oum Alfinik Maarouf, so this is all left for you, cut and paste? Wlah, kif taye2 7alak? Well, I guess we had to have a parrot as a mascot here, there you go.
