Arslan Says Won't Accept 'Consensus Druze Minister'
Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan announced Sunday that he will not accept proposals to name a so-called “consensus Druze minister” in the new government.
“Anyone who tries to propose so-called consensus candidates for Druze representation is a 'Trojan horse' against the new presidential tenure and its policies,” Arslan tweeted.
“We will not accept this, neither in form nor in content,” the MP added.
“This is also a conspiracy against the strategic orientations of Druze amid the conspiracy against the entire region,” Arslan went on to say.
And noting that such a proposal has not been raised with him in an “official manner,” Arslan said: “This stance is final and we will not discuss it with anyone.”
“We are only warning in advance in anticipation” of such a proposal, Arslan noted.
Media reports published Sunday said Speaker Nabih Berri is trying to convince Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat to accept a Druze ministerial candidate who would be “close to him and also to Arslan.”
Jumblat has been demanding that his party be allocated all three Druze seats in a 30-member Cabinet while Arslan, backed by the Free Patriotic Movement, has insisted that his party be given one of the three Druze seats.
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