Jumblat Says Won't Rejoin March 14, Accuses Aoun of 'Paralyzing Everything'
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has announced that he does not intend to rejoin the March 14 camp, slamming the Free Patriotic Movement as an “irrational” political movement that is “paralyzing everything.”
Commenting on his recent trip to Saudi Arabia in an interview to be published on Saturday, Jumblat hoped to restore his previous relation with the kingdom, saying Riyadh was dismayed by his support in 2011 for the nomination of Prime Minister Najib Miqati for premiership following the collapse of Saad Hariri’s government.
“I have not changed my stance: that (political) shift was necessary in order to spare the country sectarian tensions and to enter a transitional period,” Jumblat said.
He added that restoring the relation with the kingdom was the focus of his meeting in Saudi Arabia with Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, stressing that talks did not tackle the Lebanese affairs.
Jumblat lamented the presence of “an irrational movement led by (MP) Michel Aoun that is paralyzing everything.”
“Unfortunately, Hizbullah is complying with his wishes,” Jumblat said, accusing Aoun of “seeking to control all the organs of the state: judiciary, security, politics, administration and elections.”
Asked about the relation with the March 14 camp, Jumblat said: “Our political interests may coincide over the issue of proportional representation, but I won’t rejoin March 14.”
“They don’t want to engage in dialogue over the issue of weapons and this is a central point of contention,” he added.
Jumblat accused “some parties in the majority” of seeking to trim his political influence through an electoral law based on proportional representation to punish him for “daring to stand in the face of the Syrian regime or criticizing it and backing the Syrian people’s revolution.”
He stressed that “proportional representation is aimed at eliminating centrist figures, such as President Michel Suleiman, Najib Miqati and Walid Jumblat,” describing it as an “electoral bulldozer.”
Asked about his current political alignment, Jumblat said: “I’m not in the March 14 camp, but that might change during the 2013 elections. I have agreed with Hizbullah, but said that I have a different stance concerning the Syrian regime. I disagree with March 8 concerning their unconditional support for Syria, Iran and Russia and I disagree with March 14 over their rejection of dialogue” over Hizbullah’s arms.
Turning to the Syrian crisis, Jumblat voiced his belief that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s ouster could spare Syria “a sectarian civil war.”
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