Beirut, March 01: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said Monday Lebanon would have to either side with the Arab-Muslim axis or the Israeli-Western one after neutrality proved to be a non-existent choice in politics.
Jumblatt, who realigned fully alongside Syria and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah after withdrawing his support for caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s March 14 coalition, said Hezbollah’s weapons were a guarantee against Israeli aggression.
As the March 14 alliance stepped up its rhetoric against Hezbollah’s weapons, calling for the possession of arms to be restricted to state institutions, Jumblatt said he re-evaluated his stances and decided to realign in defense of “Lebanon from an Arab and Palestinian perspective” after events on May 7, 2008.
That date saw bloody clashes between pro-Hezbollah and pro-government supporters following a Cabinet decision to dismantle Hezbollah’s private telecommunications network.
“I evaluated the May 7 period and we were on the brink of getting trapped in a domestic conflict so I reassessed the situation and reverted to the roots of the PSP and the Jumblatt family in defending Lebanon from an Arab and Palestinian perspective,” Jumblatt told satellite news television station France 24.
Jumblatt also criticized the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, saying the court’s credibility had been shaken. The U.N.-backed court was established to try the assassins of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
“Irrespective of the indictment, I hope the resistance’s supporters remain calm and refrain from being provoked as is sought by the Israeli-U.S. project,” Jumblatt said in reference to the widespread belief the indictment will implicate Hezbollah members.
Regarding the Cabinet formation process, which March 14 parties announced Sunday they would boycott, Jumblatt said hurdles still delay any agreement.
In separate remarks to the PSP-affiliated Al-Anbaa newspaper, Jumblatt said Lebanon would experience crises as long as political sectarianism constitutes the basis of governance. He called for and end to Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.
——–Agencies