Jumblat Says Won't Give Up Helou's Nomination 'for the Sake of Military Man, Central Bank Chief'
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat assured that he is going forward with the nomination of Democratic Gathering MP Henri Helou for presidency, stating that he will not withdraw it “for the sake of a military man or the Central Bank chief.”
"I don't oppose (Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel) Aoun but I do not nominate him or vote for him. I also won't vote for (Lebanese Forces chief) Samir (Geagea),” Jumblat said in an interview on Tele Liban which aired on Wednesday evening.
He continued: “I have 10 MPs and it is not me who decides (on the presidency). If they reached consensus, there would be no problem. But I will not endorse Aoun or Geagea.”
The PSP leader stressed that he will not give up the nomination of Helou for the sake of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji or Central Bank chief Riad Salameh.
“I do not understand why I should withdraw Helou's candidacy for a military man, the Central Bank chief or others,” he noted.
"I perceive that (the approach of) Henri Helou conforms to (former) President (Michel) Suleiman's path, and I agree with him in trying to continue going forward with the Baabda Declaration, of course according to regional circumstances,” he added.
Jumblat explained that if Qahwaji takes office the presidency would become restricted to military figures, noting that this would suggest that there are no qualified figures among Maronite politicians.
“I prefer if major countries agree on a president and I am going forward with Helou's nomination,” he declared.
Jumblat also discussed Tehran’s influence in the region, saying that Hizbullah is part of the Syrian-Iranian axis and lamenting that Lebanon “has become part of this sphere.”
He rejected visiting the Iranian capital, considering that the Islamic Republic “has committed a major crime against the Syrian people.”
He elaborated: “The Islamic Republic is scoring politically and militarily on Syrian territories through the fall of Homs, which is a passage between the Mediterranean and Iran. Through (Homs') fall, the Islamic Republic took control over Syria to a certain extent, or it divided it into two parts.”
On the Syrian situation, he went on to say: “(Hizbullah chief) Sayyed (Hassan) Nasrallah said there is no political solution without (Syrian President) Bashar (Assad) as if Bashar wants a political solution. He only wants himself.”
“Bashar Assad will not win and it is ethically shameful to say that he won. The Syrian regime will not emerge victorious, and if it does it will be over its people's dead bodies and what will it rule then? A desert.”
On Hizbullah, he said he supported the resistance's presence “but only to defend Lebanon.”
“Suleiman tried to separate Lebanon (from regional conflicts) through the Baabda Declaration. However, the decision in this respect is not Lebanese, but in Iran,” he remarked.
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Source: Naharnet
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