Jumblat Counting on Arab Spring to Introduce Real Change for Arab People

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Monday that the facts and figures in the 2002 report on humanitarian development in the Arab world have not changed since the report’s release, hoping that the revolts in the Arab world would be able to introduce real change in the way of life of Arab people.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The lack of change can be attributed to a lack of developmental and economic policies in the Arab world.”

He also blamed the ongoing Israeli occupation and lack of democracy in most Arab countries for their failure to improve the living conditions of their people.

“The Israeli occupation has served to hinder security and progress in the region on the geographic and developmental levels,” the MP said.

“In addition, the occupation has also been used as an excuse to justify the obstruction of democracy in Arab countries,” Jumblat remarked.

The 2002 report explained that if the political motivation was available, Arab states would have acquired the necessary means to eliminate poverty, he added.

The PSP leader lamented the fact that educational curricula in the Arab world have not been developed, saying that students are still being taught matters that have become obsolete in the age of the Internet.

“If the cumulative production of all Arab countries combined amounts to less than the gross domestic product of a European country like Spain, then what can we expect of the Arab world in the future?”: asked Jumblat.