Jumblatt Warns Against Handing Lebanon Over to Syrian-Iranian Axis

The head of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Jumblatt, warned against “falling into the mistake of handing over the country to the Syrian-Iranian axis.”

Speaking at the party’s 48th general conference on Sunday, Jumblatt said that the reasons for the government’s failure to convene “are no longer a secret,” pointing to attempts to obstruct the investigations into the Beirut port explosion.

“They linked the government’s meeting with the investigation into the explosion of the port of Beirut. I mean, the government would meet if the investigation were stopped. Unfortunately, this is the condition,” he noted.

On next year’s parliamentary elections, he commented on reaching a possible alliance with Al-Mustaqbal Movement, saying: “Whatever the difficulties, concerns and reservations, as you want to call them, we cannot get out of a natural, objective, and historical alliance with Al-Mustaqbal.”

He continued: “[Al-Mustaqbal’s] absence from the scene does not help. It is true that circumstances have changed, but if the movement is absent and we hand the country, the whole country, to the Syrian-Iranian axis, it will be a huge mistake. I cannot alone, and without [the head of Al-Mustaqbal Movement] Sheikh Saad [Hariri], confront peacefully and say enough is enough.”

On other parliamentary alliances, Jumblatt said: “There is an alliance with the Lebanese Forces, and we want to strengthen it within the suffocating restrictions of this electoral law, which we were forced to follow.”

SOURCE: Asharq Al-Awsat

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