Jumblat Says FPM Bringing about Self Marginalization

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat emphasized that the rights of the Christian community are not marginalized as some officials claim but that the latter are “marginalizing themselves” because of their “stubbornness and adamant conditions”, As Safir daily reported on Wednesday.

“Allow me please...I object to this whole equation. What is true is that self marginalization is brought about by some Christian component because of its stubbornness and insistence on certain conditions,” said Jumblat to the daily.

He was referring to the comments of the Free Patriotic Movement leader and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil when he accused the government of marginalization the christian role when it convenes in the absence of its ministers.

The FPM boycotted the government’s sessions previously against the backdrop of the appointment of military officials. And recently it brought up the issue of whether the government is conforming to the National Pact if it convenes in their absence.

Furthermore, the FPM has vowed to boycott meetings of the national dialogue which made Speaker Nabih Berri suspend future meetings.

To that Jumblat remarked: “Betting on inactivity and obstruction is a suicide that only reflects with further political and economic deterioration. It is slow death that some political forces are dragging us into.”

The FPM's latest boycott of cabinet meetings is linked to the thorny issue of military and security appointments. The defense minister has recently postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers.

The movement fears that the extension of Kheir's term could pave the way for a new extension of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji. The army chief's retirement had been postponed in September 2013 and his term was instead extended for two years.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, FPM founder MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.