Berri-Jumblat bromance: Intact despite presidential differences
Outgoing Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri seem to maintain a strong friendship, despite political differences.
"Nothing can affect my relation with Berri," Jumblat told al-Joumhouria newspaper, in remarks published Tuesday. On the same day, Berri told al-Akhbar
that his relation with Jumblat is "unshakable," one day ahead of a heated presidential election session that will divide MPs' votes between Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh and IMF official and former minister Jihad Azour.
Although the Democratic Gathering bloc has long said it favors a consensual president, it announced that it would support Azour, while Hezbollah and Amal renewed their support for Franjieh.
"Voting for Azour is not targeted against the Shiite component and does not aim at isolating the Shiites," Democratic Gathering bloc sources told al-Joumhouria. "It is necessary to reach a consensus on Azour instead of imposing him."
The sources added that the bloc must be in harmony with itself, as it was the first to suggest Azour's name, "although it would have been better if Azour had adopted a different approach."
Meanwhile, Ain el-Tineh sources told al-Jadeed that Berri has been receiving reassuring messages from Jumblat about his insistence on consensus and the impossibility of Azour becoming president.
13 June 2023, 15:13
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In a grave testament to the erosion of justice and the abuse of power, two individuals who engaged in flagrant acts of criminality during the civil war have succeeded in evading the repercussions that should rightfully befall them. These war criminals, driven by their malevolent intentions, cunningly exploited their positions of authority to grant themselves pardons, thus constructing a shield of impunity that shields them from the long-awaited consequences of their abhorrent deeds. By exercising this audacious self-pardoning, they have essentially extinguished any glimmer of hope for their victims to witness a fair and impartial judicial process. This distressing display of self-exoneration serves as a stark reminder of the unchecked dominance they wielded and the haunting absence of a robust legal framework capable of holding such individuals accountable for their grave transgressions against humanity.
13 June 2023, 19:23
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These two are convinced that only Christian rule, enshrined in Article 24 of the Constitution which assigns half of parliamentary seats to them, can save Lebanon.
13 June 2023, 19:24
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Perhaps the two pretend that Christians have assigned power to them.
13 June 2023, 23:12
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Noam Chomsky says, nay, he insists that more than half of Lebanese are Christian. Old Noam even claims that he's written a message to chrisrushlau informing it of this information, but as it turns out chrisrushlau cannot read nor understand, not even the few words of the Article 24 of the Lebanese Constitution.
