Jumblat's Parliamentary Bloc to Submit Candidacies for Parliamentary Polls

Members of Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's parliamentary bloc will reportedly submit their candidacies for the upcoming general elections.

Sources close to Jumblat said in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Sunday that the lawmakers of the National Struggle Front will run for the elections, including MP Ghazi al-Aridi.

In 2013, Aridi announced his resignation from ex-premier Najib Miqati's caretaker cabinet in light of corruption allegations, revealing that he will “take a break from politics.”

“The bloc abides by all the constitutional deadlines, at forefront the parliamentary polls,” sources told the newspaper.

However, the sources said running for the elections doesn't “necessarily mean that the polls will be staged.”

“The bloc supports carrying out timely parliamentary elections, although extending the legislature's term for a second time would be a bitter option,” the sources added.

Last year, the rival MPs extended their tenure until November 2014 after they failed to agree on a new electoral draft-law.

Media reports said on Friday that the March 14 MPs will submit their nominations for the parliamentary elections despite the differences among them over holding the polls in light of the vacuum in the presidency.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 25 when Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended amid differences between the rival parliamentary blocs on a compromise candidate.

On Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri and his Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc submitted their candidacies for the polls.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq issued a memo last week detailing the documents needed for those seeking to run in the elections on November 16.

The memo was based on a decree that he issued last month, calling on the electoral bodies to elect lawmakers.