Jumblat Warns March 8, 14 of No Change in Political Balance after Polls

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat warned both the parliamentary majority and the opposition that they will not be able to make political gains and change the balance imposed in parliament.

“If you think that the elections will allow any team to twist the arm of the other party, then you are mistaken,” Jumblat, who is the head of the National Struggle Front bloc, told As Safir newspaper published Saturday.

“Getting an additional seat or two will not change the political balance on the ground,” he said in reference to his balancing role between the March 8 and the March 14 opposition alliances.

Jumblat, who is a centrist, also revealed that he will visit Paris mid-December for talks with French President Francois Hollande.

The PSP chief threw a dinner banquet to a delegation from al-Mustaqbal movement on Thursday night as part of his initiative to convince bickering parties to come to the dialogue table.

Al-Mustaqbal described on Friday Jumblat's initiative as “positive,” reiterating demands that the government step down.

“The resignation of the cabinet is the solution to defuse the tension in the country,” head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora said in a statement.

The delegation that included Saniora, MP Ahmed Fatfat and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's advisers Nader al-Hariri and Mohammed Shatah stressed during the meeting the importance of carrying out the 2013 parliamentary elections without any delay.

It pointed out that the March 14 coalition rejects attending an “unproductive” dialogue amid the lingering security threats.

Sources close to Saniora told An Nahar newspaper on Saturday that there was agreement between the two sides “to end the crisis that is controlling the country.”

A PSP delegation has been holding talks with major political figures to propose to them Jumblat's initiative to resolve the country's political crisis.

Its latest talks involved head of the Jamaa Islamiya political bureau Azzam al-Ayyoubi, Lebanese Force leader Samir Geagea, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel and it has so far met with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem and Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun.