Jumblat Meets Salam after Holding Phone Talks with Aoun
Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat held talks Wednesday afternoon with Prime Minister Tammam Salam, stressing that “there is no justification for impeding cabinet sessions.”
“PM Tammam Salam has been running the country in a very wise and delicate manner in the past 16 months, and today the junctures are bigger and more dangerous,” said Jumblat after meeting the premier at the Grand Serail.
He was accompanied by the PSP's ministers in the government – Akram Shehayyeb and Wael Abou Faour – and ex-minister Ghazi Aridi.
“During the awful Lebanese war, Lebanon was burning while the Arab countries around us were stable. Nowadays Lebanon is stable whereas most Arab countries around us are burning. So the fire might be at our doors,” Jumblat warned.
“That's why I don't see a justification for impeding the cabinet sessions, which are being run through PM Tammam Salam's wisdom and administration,” he added.
The PSP leader also noted that “there are files that need to be accomplished so that we delay and avoid the coming blaze and serve the interests of citizens.”
Earlier in the day, Jumblat telephoned Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun to clarify recent claims attributed to him by the media.
Jumblat stressed to the Christian leader his “keenness on the positive ties between them,” said a PSP statement.
He also stressed the need to maintain contacts “that have proven their effectiveness in recent phases in Lebanon.”
As Safir newspaper on Tuesday reported that Aoun had accused Jumblat of “betraying him” regarding the appointments of security officials.
The PSP statement on Wednesday deemed such claims as “inaccurate and false,” adding that Jumblat “had previously submitted a proposal over the appointments, but it had failed for various reasons.”
The FPM is pushing for the government to discuss the appointment of high-ranking military and security officials and Aoun has been lobbying for the appointment of Commando Regiment commander Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief.
Last week, the cabinet failed to tackle the issue and widened the divide among its different parties. Further disputes are threatening Thursday's cabinet session.
The FPM's plan to stage street protests hinges on the session's outcome, FPM officials have said.
M.T./Y.R.
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