Jumblatt touts plan to limit impact of presidential crisis

by **Admin** Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:00 am

Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblatt said on Monday that there were "necessary steps" to be taken in order to limit the "negative repercussions" that the four-month-old presidential vacuum might engender.

"There are some necessary measures to be taken in order to avoid Lebanon's destruction and transformation into a country alien to us," Jumblatt said in his weekly column in the Al-Anbaa magazine, mouthpiece of the Progressive Socialist Party, which he heads.

The Druze leader gave social and economic suggestions "to support the Lebanese through times of political deadlock and to promote their endurance."

Jumblatt suggested a raise in minimum wages "especially for the working class who face rough living conditions." Such a raise would start setting up a more positive atmosphere, according to the anti-Syrian MP.

Jumblatt stressed the need to "develop and perfect" the National Social Security Fund because it was "a major and vital organization for a large number of the Lebanese."

He also stressed the importance of finding concrete solutions to the electricity problems in order to stop the enormous money wasting which the state-run electricity company causes.

"The solutions shouldn't be politicized," he said, "As even in this sector divisions exist."

Concerning the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), Jumblatt said it was important "to recruit new people regardless of confessional quotas."
"Such a step could reinforce this institution and its abilities to maintain the country's internal security in times where some burn tires, block roads and the city center has been transformed into a ghetto," he said.

Jumblatt repeated the importance of inaugurating a new LAF hospital equipped with all the necessary facilities.
The PSP leader saluted the efforts of the Internal Security Forces, "which have proven to be fruitful in the past few years."

In his editorial Jumblatt touched upon the Lebanese University's recent merger, where a unified campus was built in the Beirut southern suburb of Hadath, and described it as "a positive step likely to promote openess."

Jumblatt also tackled problems faced in the sectors of tourism, industry and agriculture "for three years now," and stressed the importance of dealing with them "as the lives of thousands of Lebanese families depend on them."

"Lebanon has all the necessary skills to succeed in fields such as information technology and should put them in use for it is a promising sector," he said.

Finally, Jumblatt called for immediate dialogue between various Lebanese groups, "while disregarding actual tensions in order to find practical solutions on all levels."