Jumblat Says Coming Days 'Very Difficult', Renews Call for 'Settlement'

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat warned Sunday that the circumstances in the country are “extraordinary and dire,” noting that he does not see an imminent solution.

“It seems that there will be no solution in the near future, because the solution will not come from abroad,” Jumblat said during a tour in the Aley region in which he met with Druze spiritual leaders.

“If some so-called top politicians think that the solution will come from abroad, I tell them that no solution will come from abroad. The solution must come from inside the country and a settlement in politics is not something shameful. A settlement is essential in politics for the sake of the country,” the veteran Druze politician added.

“I do not have new information that points to a settlement nor to the possibility of reining in this economic and financial collapse,” Jumblat went on to say, cautioning that “the coming days will be very difficult.”

He added: “There are no prospects because they are rejecting the settlement. I don’t know how there can be such an irresponsible official to reject a settlement.”

Reminding that he had personally gone through “more difficult circumstances,” Jumbat noted that he made a settlement with the Syrians after they “killed Kamal Jumblat.”

“I went to Damascus and shook Hafez al-Assad’s hand for the sake of Lebanon’s Arabism and for the sake of my community, the Lebanese National Movement and the threat that Lebanon was facing? What is the big deal? I remained an ally of Syria for 29 years and I wish Syria was still the same. That’s why a settlement is not a mistake,” Jumblat added.

He accordingly said that “it is required to form a government that can halt the collapse, so that it faces the World Bank and the international institutions in order to take conditional and not free loans.”

“We don’t have any other solution,” Jumblat added.