Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has called for keeping the thorny issue of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon out of the political debate in the country.

“I add my voice to that of the Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, who called for keeping the issue of the STL out of the domestic political debate, in a manner that allows the consolidation of political stability, the reactivation of the work of state institutions and the addressing of people’s social demands and living conditions, without disavowing the call for justice, which is being mostly harmed by the continuous debate over it,” Jumblat said.

Al-Mustaqbal MP Nohad al-Mashnouq called on Hizbullah ministers to quit their posts in the cabinet, saying there can’t be Hizbullah members in the government at a time when the party’s militants are wanted for involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder.

The Hizbullah ministers should quit “until the truth” is found in Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination, he said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat questioned on Friday the timing of the release of the indictment in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, noting that it took place soon after the formation of the new government.

He said during a press conference at his Clemenceau residence: “The decision to release the indictment was political.”

Premier Najib Miqati vowed on Wednesday to take the appropriate constitutional decision if a 12-member committee failed to draft the cabinet’s policy statement by the end of the constitutional period.

The prime minister stressed that contacts are ongoing between him and Speaker Nabih Berri, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, and Hizbullah in order to reach an agreement over the policy statement clause on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the government’s commitment to international agreements.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat traveled on Saturday after instructing his representatives in the cabinet not to accept any “explosive” policy statement draft, the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily reported.

The newspaper said Monday it had no information about Jumblat’s destination.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati has failed to bridge the gap between the cabinet’s centrist forces and mainly Hizbullah over the clause on the international tribunal in the policy statement, ministerial sources said.

The sources told al-Liwaa daily that consultations that Miqati held over the weekend away from the media spotlight failed to strike a deal between the two sides. The premier received a proposal from the Shiite party on the clause but the suggestion does not meet with Miqati’s own vision, the sources added.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed that he will not back any side that is seeking a confrontation on the internal and external scenes and aiming to create strife in Lebanon, his sources told Ad-Diyar daily on Sunday.

“Jumblat chose to support the majority out his interest to protect Lebanon from any problems,” they added.

The nomination of Marwan Kheireddine to replace Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan in the cabinet is facing obstacles after some parties objected the nomination unless Kheireddine vows not to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat reported on Saturday that Kheireddine’s uncle MP Anwar Khalil, who is a Free Patriotic Movement ally, objects naming him as state minister unless he guarantees not to announce his candidacy for the Druze seat in Hasbaya-Marjayoun in the next parliamentary elections.

Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi denied that U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly had imposed any conditions on MP Walid Jumblat or the new cabinet during her meeting with the Druze leader.

In remarks to al-Joumhouria daily on Thursday, Aridi said that Connelly did not impose on Jumblat “conditions or specific demands about the new cabinet, particularly the policy statement.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat held talks Tuesday night at his Clemenceau residence with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly on current political developments.

The meeting, which included a dinner banquet held in the guests’ honor, was attended by Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ghazi al-Aridi.