Jumblat Praises Hariri for Defending Hizbullah-Mustaqbal Dialogue but March 8 Slams his Speech
Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat has said it was important for Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement to stick to their dialogue to resolve several issues.
“What's important is for the dialogue between al-Mustaqbal and Hizbullah to continue,” said Jumblat in remarks published in As Safir daily on Monday.
He praised al-Mustaqbal movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri for holding onto the talks that the two parties launched in December.
Hariri spoke on Saturday during a rally commemorating the 10th anniversary of the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
He said the talks with Hizbullah were “a national necessity” to defuse sectarian tensions.
Hariri also stressed that the Lebanese state should have jurisdiction over decisions of war and peace and criticized Hizbullah over its presence in Syria which he described as an act of madness.
The party has sent its fighters to the neighboring country to help the forces loyal to President Bashar Assad against the rebels seeking to topple him.
In his remarks to As Safir, Jumblat called for adopting a pragmatic approach to resolving controversial issues, including the filling of the fourth basin at Beirut Port, the security plan in the eastern Bekaa Valley, limiting tension and building dams.
He stressed that “bigger policies are not made by us.”
Jumblat was referring to regional and world powers.
As Safir also quoted March 8 alliance leaders as saying that Hariri's speech was aimed at stressing his loyalty to the new Saudi leadership.
“If he is accusing the party of shoving Lebanon into an axis against another, then what right he has to push Lebanon into Riyadh's axis,” the leaders, who were not identified, wondered.
Saudi King Salman acceded to the throne in January after the death of King Abdullah.
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