Jumblat Wants 2 Key Portfolios to Give Up 3rd Druze Seat

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat has showed flexibility and willingness to give up one of three seats reserved for the Druze community in the new government, a media report said.

Jumblat is however conditioning this on getting “two essential portfolios: agriculture and health/public works,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

“This will create a new hurdle, seeing as Hizbullah and the Marada Movement are not willing to give up these two portfolios,” the daily quoted senior March 8 sources as saying.

Al-Akhbar also reported that the previous “Druze obstacle” would be resolved through a swap between Jumblat and President Michel Aoun under which the PSP would get a Christian seat in return for a Druze seat for the president.

Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement had been insisting on giving one of the Druze seats to their ally MP Talal Arslan.