Jumblatt says Lebanese and Syrian liberals locked in common struggle

by **Admin** Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:32 am

In his weekly editorial in the Progressive Socialist Party aligned Al-Anbaa, Jumblatt reconfirmed the March 14 alliance’s unwavering adherence to the Taif Agreement, which postulated the determinative definition of Lebanon and Arabism and protected political participation, regardless of numerical and demographic growth.

Jumblatt alluded to the Lebanese opposition’s disruptive role in Lebanon, saying the country today was witnessing an “attempted coup” on the Taif Agreement, either through the fabrication of new political and constitutional customs or through the obstructing third of votes. “This is an attack on national institutions and makes executive power the hostage of regional whims,” he noted. Such attacks, he added, would imply either putting Lebanon at the mercy of the Syrian-Iranian axis or completely paralyzing its institutions.

“The presidency is empty because of these endless artificial terms,” he added. The parliament is paralyzed, Jumblatt stated, and the government must avoid stepping on any toes and hence operates at a bare minimum. “Can this situation continue?” the MP questioned, urging the Arab League to support Lebanon through all means possible to ensure its independence and stability are concretized. He also asked the Arab League to push the Syrian regime to the exchange of diplomatic relations with Lebanon, which should be recognized as an independent entity. He also called for the clear demarcation of a Lebanese-Syrian border and underscored the need to implement decisions adopted unanimously through national dialogue, primarily the UN-affiliated International Tribunal, dedicated to uncovering the Hariri assassins, in addition to the issue of Palestinian weapons outside and inside refugee camps across Lebanon.

“We must reach a joint defense strategy to protect Lebanon through the state’s exclusive possession of the right to decisions of war-and-peace,” he added.

Jumblatt suggested the above may prove a better strategy than plunging the Arab League into details of “governmental formulas and obstructing and guarantor thirds,” which he said were a distraction from real differences with the Syrian regime.

MP Jumblatt said that the commemoration of his father Kamal, whose assassination on March 16 1977 is a suspected Syrian act, inspired “a new thought and vision” based on the “courage of Kamal Jumblatt, who refused to obey and paid with his life for the independence of Lebanon and real Arabism.”

“With the liberals and detained intellectuals in Syria,” Jumblatt concluded, “we say that we are locked in a battle for freedom and democracy, for no matter how hard we try to consecrate our freedom in Lebanon, we will remain vulnerable to attacks from the oppressive Syrian regime.”