Jumblat: They Want to Control Everything, But We'll Confront Them via Ballot Boxes
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday hit back at Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, accusing him and his allies of seeking to “take control of all the country’s assets, of the administration, judiciary, army and economy.”
Jumblat vowed to “confront them through the ballot boxes” in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
“What can I say to the one who cursed us yesterday, I will not say anything … but I’m very dismayed by those who allowed him to dig up the graves of the past, I’m very dismayed by those who do not respect my centrist position,” Jumblat said, in a clear reference to Aoun and his allies.
Aoun on Saturday said “Jumblat considers himself the only rational person … But the proportional representation would reflect his real political weight.”
“All your threats are lies, do whatever you want,” Aoun said, addressing Jumblat.
Hitting back on Sunday during a rally organized by the PSP to honor its veterans, Jumblat said: “What do they want? Do they want to take control of all the country’s assets, of the administration, judiciary, army and economy. I don’t want to say security because there is no security. Do they want to return to the old-new slogan: the military (rule)? Do they want to take control of parliament and turn us into followers?”
“What army are they talking about in the absence of a clear defense strategy?” Jumblat added, vowing to “act calmly and patiently” and stressing the importance of civil peace.
“We will express our beliefs in the ballot boxes, amid a great challenge. To be or not to be,” Jumblat added.
Addressing his party’s veterans, Jumblat said: “Do you remember when you shelled the Syrian army and confronted it” during the civil war?
He also saluted “the martyrs of the Phalange Party and the Lebanese Forces who fell in the Mountain War, because each of them defended Lebanon in their own way.”
Jumblat said his party “paid a hefty price in order to prevent civil strife” during the May 2008 clashes.
“We do not regret that and we have stressed the importance of dialogue after they abandoned it and renounced the Doha Agreement,” he added.
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