Jumblat to Meet Saudi King ‘Soon,’ Reiterates Cabinet Won’t Collapse

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed on Wednesday that the current cabinet will not collapse until the reasons behind its formation fall.

“There will be no escalation, the political reason behind the formation of the cabinet still exists,” Jumblat told al-Akhbar newspaper.

He said that Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon informed him that King Abdullah will meet with him soon.

“I am still waiting for the date to be set,” Jumblat noted.

He pointed out that during his meeting with the Saudi King he will explain his decision to nominate Najib Miqati to the premiership after the collapse of ex-PM Saad Hariri’s cabinet in 2011.

Jumblat told the daily that contacts with Hariri are cutoff.

Concerning the telecom data controversial issue, the Druze leader urged Hizbullah to “order” Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui to hand over the data to the security agencies.

“The security agencies should coordinate among each other and request the telecom data for specific areas in the country only,” he stated.

The telecom data dispute emerged again after the failed assassination attempts against March 14 officials MP Butros Harb and Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea.

The March 14 alliance is demanding the cabinet to hand over the data to the security agencies including the IMSI, which is a unique code used to identify an individual user on a GSM network.

However, President Michel Suleiman agreed with Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Sehnaoui and senior security officials and judges to provide the security agencies with specific data information in an attempt to limit any violation of freedom.

Jumblat voiced his support to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun regarding the crisis at Electricite du Liban with the contract workers who have been protesting for the past 3 months.

“The solution must be fair, but it is unacceptable to occupy a state institution and disable it,” he noted.

He warned that the employees’ strike might turn into tension between Christians and Shiites if “we take into consideration the sensitivity of the area” they are protesting in.

Jumblat said that the alliance between Hizbullah and the FPM will not crack.

The parliament’s approval earlier this month of a decision taken by the joint parliamentary committees to permanently employee EDL contract workers created a rift between the March 8 allies, as the Free Patriotic Movement accused Hizbullah of being a “spectator” and Speaker Nabih Berri of violating the protocol.

The Christian lawmakers boycotted the parliament to protest the approval of the joint parliamentary committees’ proposal, arguing that the permanent employment of those workers would destabilize the sectarian balance at EDL as around 80 percent of them belong to non-Christian sects and most of them support Berri, who is a Shiite.

“Alain Aoun recently visited Damascus and was informed that spats are forbidden… They are acting as if the Syrians are still in Lebanon,” Jumblat revealed.

He reiterated his confidence that the Syrian regime will collapse.

“It will inevitably collapse,” he told the daily.

The PSP leader held Iran responsible for the crisis in Syria.

“The Iranians are implementing a policy that I don’t understand. No one can understand the Persians. Thank God we have no contacts among each other,” Jumblat said.

He criticized Russia for its role also saying that what President Bashar Assad’s Russian friends are doing is “plain stupid.”

Russian President Vladmir “Putin can no longer do anything,” Jumblat pointed out

“The Syrian people will avenge for all the victims of this regime.”