BEIRUT: The Lebanese have to free themselves from the sectarian mentality, according to Taymour Jumblatt, son of Progressive Social Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt, during a visit to the southern town of Hasbaya and to the Bekaa town of Rashaya on Friday. Jumblatt met with Minister of State Wael Abu Faour and MP Antoine Saad during his visit and attended a youth gathering in the Hasbaya region. “Youths are the ones who build a nation since they represent the future,” he said, addressing the crowd. “Let us all participate in building this country on correct and flawless grounds” he added. Jumblatt also met with PSP officials in the regions of Rashaya and Hasbaya.

BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah and Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday stressed on the need to face US-Israeli schemes that aim to “weaken Lebanon’s domestic front and sow the seeds of inter-Muslim strife.” Jumblatt visited Fadlallah at his residence in the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik, for the first time in more than three years. The talks, which lasted for over an hour, were attended by deputy head of the PSP Dureid Yaghi and Minister of State Wael Abu Faour.

Following the June 7 polls Jumblatt held similar talks with political foe Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The meeting Wednesday surveyed political developments that followed the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

“We are glad to be able to renew political as well as intellectual discussions with Sayyed Fadlallah after a long pause due to political circumstances and the summer 2006 war [with Israel],” Jumblatt told reporters.

“We share his [Fadlallah’s] political views concerning what is being plotted for the region,” Jumblatt said.

In August, Jumblatt announced his departure from the March 14 Forces, describing his alliance with the coalition as “driven by necessity.”

However on Monday, Jumblatt took part in a large-scale meeting for the parliamentary majority at the residence of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Qoreitem.
Jumblatt said he attended the meeting to “express support” for Hariri in his so-far-difficult task of forming a national unity government.

Jumblatt said Wednesday he remained part of the parliamentary majority, while adding that it was “high time the alliance revives its rhetoric and slogans.”

He also expressed hope that inter-Lebanese and inter-Muslim strife can be avoided. “We should return to the basics and assess the true challenges and threats that await us,” he said.

Fadlallah, meanwhile, accused foreign powers of running Lebanese politics.

The cleric described Jumblatt’s recent stances as “important,” and hoped that others would follow suit.

“It is essential that all groups join forces in order to prevent foreign meddling through politics and the judiciary into domestic affairs,” he said.

“Foreign powers benefit from and extensively use tools such as politics, sectarianism, and racism to sow the seeds of strife among Sunnis and Shiites,” he added. – The Daily Star

The March 14 Alliance has been wavering, confused and puzzled by the latest remarks of MP Walid Jumblatt, as the past “top alliance leader” changed course on Sunday announcing that his alliance with the March 14 coalition “was out of necessity and has to be terminated.”

Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri told As-Safir newspaper on Monday that Jumblatt “never loses his way”” and said he expected the PSP leader’s stances to have negative repercussions on the March 14 bloc.

Berri welcomed Jumblatt’s setback saying the discussions on the guaranteeing-third vote have become meaningless, adding that the three prospective Druze ministers will no longer be considered within March 14’s ministerial share. “Jumblatt’s position proved my expectations that there will be a reshuffling of cards after the June 7 parliamentary elections,” Berri said. Sources close to Berri told Al-Akhbar newspaper that Jumblat’s stance should pressure prime minister designate Saad Hariri to hurry in the cabinet formation.

The Future Movement  responded to Jumblatt’s stance saying that each political party has the right to adopt its own stance.
According to As-Safir, the Future movement response came after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and the Phalanges party as well as other “independent” March 14 Christian leaderships threatened to take a position against Jumblatt”. However, the 14 March alliancs agreed that the Future Movement statement was the first in a series of reactions to Jumblatt. “It’s ok if some want to remind of their history, but on condition of not going back to the shameful history in which many were partners in putting their personal interest above the nation’s interest,” the statement read.

Jumblatt told As-Safir newspaper that he will not respond to the Future Movement’s Sunday statement that claimed that the March 14 coalition had never rejected other Lebanese parties and that it is loyal to its “Lebanon First” slogan, adding that he will wait for clarification.

“Is it shameful to name the PSP’s bright achievements and phases of struggle, such as objecting to the Baghdad Coalition and having reservations on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon?” Jumblatt told the paper. He added that the Future Movement’s logic is “strange,” saying that “if the movement’s statement was in response to my stance toward the ‘Lebanon First’ slogan” – a reference to Jumblatt’s rejection of the motto, which he called it “isolationist” – “then the reaction is exaggerated.”
Jumblatt said that he aims at re-building the PSP on the basis of historic fundamentals, while monitoring the youth’s degree of support for his slogans and proposals before considering the establishment of a new national movement.

MAJOR SETBACK

MP Marwan Hamadeh told LBC TV that he already knew that Jumblatt had a trend toward independence from the March 14 coalition. “What is happening is an interpretation of the party’s independence, and does not mean a blow against the majority which Hariri enjoys,” Hamadeh said.

An Nahar daily on Monday quoted officials as speaking of a major setback, raising the possibility that some opposition forces could use Jumblatt’s remarks to challenge the continuation of the majority’s cover for Hariri in his mission.

They argued that Jumblatt’s 11-strong parliamentary bloc could decrease the number of the majority from 71 to 60 in the event that the Druze leader officially decided to walk out of the March 14 alliance.
This could lead to the emergence of “different reality” than that consolidated by parliamentary elections “even if the majority still beat the Opposition which has 57 deputies,” An Nahar said.

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Head MP Walid Jumblatt reconsidered Sunday his alliance with the March 14 Forces, saying “it was driven by necessity and must end.”

Opposition leaders, meanwhile, reiterated on Sunday their optimism regarding the formation of the cabinet within days, while March 14 figures highlighted the need to grant the government monopoly over war or peace decisions, a reference to Hizbullah’s struggle with Israel.

At the opening of the PSP general assembly at the Beaurivage Hotel in Beirut, Jumblatt stressed on the need to reconsider forming a new alliance “free of bias.”

The PSP leader slammed the March 14 electoral campaign, saying it was “driven by the re­jection of the opposition on sectarian, tribal and political levels rather than being based on a political platform.”

Responding to Jumblatt’s comments, the Future Movement issued a statement saying that the March 14 Forces had never rejected the opposition, adding that ruling majority’s slogan would be always be “Lebanon First.”

“The June 7 parliamentary elections led to sectarian alliances which should be eliminated,” Jumblatt said, adding that the “polls result should not be considered a win.”

The March 14 Forces won a majority of 71 seats in Parliament in the June polls.

Jumblatt, who stressed the need to abolish political sectarianism, emphasized the necessity of good Lebanese-Syrian bilateral ties following the end of Syria’s mandate in Lebanon, a reference to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from the country in 2005 following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Regarding ongoing investigation into Hariri’s assassination, Jumblatt voiced hope that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) would uncover the truth behind the crime, “without foreign powers meddling and influencing its decisions or results.”

Jumblatt, who said he regretted holding talks with US officials in 2006, justified his meetings by saying that they aimed to protect the STL as well as Lebanon’s independence.

The PSP leader held talks alongside other March 14 leaders with US officials from former President Georges W. Bush’s administration prior, during and following the summer 2006 Israel war on Lebanon.

Also criticizing the current electoral law, Jumblatt’s political foe Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said in his editorial published on his party’s website on Sunday that the adopted law in the June 7 polls “was the worst.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Sunday that the new national-unity cabinet would be formed “within days.”

In remarks published in the Kuwaiti daily Awan on Sunday, Berri reiterated that the agreement between the opposition and the parliamentary majority on the cabinet’s make-up was concluded and discussions currently focused on the distribution of ministerial portfolios.

“The government formation will be complete within days, the most difficult part has been finalized and we were left with ministerial portfolios,” Berri said.

Highlighting the importance of a national-unity cabinet, Berri said either coalition, “the March 14 and the opposition, cannot rule on their own and must bear the country’s responsibilities together.”

The speaker added that the progress made with regard to the accord among Lebanese groups on the government makeup was the result of Syrian-Saudi harmony.

Berri denied claims of a possible Lebanese-Syrian-Saudi summit in Damascus following the formation of the cabinet.

However, he said that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri had “no problem” visiting Syria either before or following the cabinet-formation process.

Sharing the speaker’s optimism, his opposition ally, Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc head MP Mohammad Raad said Sunday the formation process could speed up following an agreement on the political framework of a national-unity government.

During a ceremony in the southern village of Houmin, Raad stressed that the political framework of the upcoming cabinet guaranteed real partnership among Lebanese factions.

“The cabinet’s formation was almost finalized and the only obstacles yet to overcome were the distribution of portfolios and the nomination of ministers,” Raad said.

Meanwhile, Phalange Party MP Elie Marouni accused the FPM leader on Sunday of hindering the cabinet’s formation given his demands regarding the distribution of ministerial portfolios and the nomination of ministers.

Marouni stressed that opposition parties were “distributing roles” with regards to demands concerning the cabinet’s formation, adding that no real disagreements existed between their groups.

Concerning the timing of the national dialogue, Marouni rejected holding sessions before the cabinet was formed, adding that no positive impact would result if Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah continued to refuse to discuss the party’s weapons.

The Phalange MP also urged Hariri to form a majority cabinet if the opposition planned to obstruct the upcoming government’s decision-making process.