ANSD : Lebanon: Joumblatt, Arslan spurn Ibrahim plan to end dispute

THU 18 - 4 - 2024

Date: Jul 29, 2019
Source: The Daily Star

Lebanon: Joumblatt, Arslan spurn Ibrahim plan to end dispute

_{Timour Azhari| The Daily Star}
BEIRUT: Two Druze politicians Sunday rejected a formula crafted by General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim to resolve a dispute that has paralyzed the government for nearly a month, and instead escalated their rhetoric against each other.

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Joumblatt and Lebanese Democratic Party head MP Talal Arslan both said they would not meet at the presidential palace in Baabda to resolve the fallout from last month’s deadly clashes, as Ibrahim had proposed.

The latest failure to mediate a resolution to the crisis comes after Cabinet Saturday surpassed the one-month mark with no meetings, amid mounting national crises including waste management.

Ministers last held a session on June 27, three days before the June 30 clashes took place.

The incident in the Aley town of Qabr Shmoun led to the death of two men in the convoy of Minister of State for Refugee Affairs Saleh Gharib, a member of the LDP.

The shooters were reportedly affiliated with the PSP, a Druze rival of the LDP. The LDP has described the clashes as an “ambush” and an “assassination attempt,” claims that the PSP has rejected.

Backed by his allies, the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah, Arslan’s core demand has been that the case be referred to the Judicial Council, the highest court specialized in dealing with sensitive security cases. All other major parties have not supported this demand, including the Amal Movement, which is usually allied with Hezbollah.

“I called for reconciliation ... but it seems nobody wants reconciliation,” Ibrahim told local news channel Al-Jadeed.

While there is currently no end in sight to the Qabr Shmoun crisis, another issue that caused a new political rift to appear last week may soon be resolved.

A source at Baabda Palace told The Daily Star Sunday evening that President Michel Aoun would sign the 2019 state budget into law “within 24 hours,” after he had held off on signing it last week over the inclusion of an article that called for employing applicants for state positions who had passed their Civil Service Council exams.

It remains unclear whether the article in question had been amended before or after Parliament ratified the budget earlier this month.

The FPM, led by Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, has opposed hiring the successful applicants because of an imbalance in the number of Christians and Muslims.

“Despite the presence of this mine in the budget, President Aoun won’t stop it from being implemented because there are other steps that can be taken to address this issue later,” the Baabda source said.

He added that Aoun aimed to have the budget published in the next issue of the Official Gazette, which comes out Thursday.

MP Samir Jisr, a leading MP in Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement, had Saturday lashed out at Bassil over his opposition to the article’s inclusion in the budget. “We say to Bassil: enough provocation, sectarianism and factionalism that will bring nothing but evil to Lebanon.”

“Bassil’s threat to let the entire budget fall in order to achieve his political desires is nothing more than a blackmail of the whole country” at a time of severe financial and economic issues, Jisr said.

Hariri had departed Beirut Friday on a family visit, as uncertainty loomed over the fate of both the budget and the Qabr Shmoun incident. A source close to the premier said he would be back in Beirut by Monday, but added that no Cabinet session was yet planned for this week.

Asked of a potential resolution amid the escalating tensions, the source said: “Nothing is clear. We’re all waiting.”

Ibrahim’s now-failed formula would first have seen Cabinet meet without Gharib - the LDP’s only minister in government - and Education Minister Akram Chehayeb, one of the PSP’s two ministers, in order to prevent tensions from boiling over between the pair, a political source told The Daily Star.

Then, Joumblatt and Arslan would head to Baabda and meet with the country’s top three officials: Aoun, Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri. The Druze politicians would be presented with the results of the investigations into the incident, and would then agree on whether or not to refer it to the Judicial Council.

“I won’t go to Baabda to meet with Talal Arslan,” Joumblatt told online news site Al-Modon Sunday, adding that he would do so if a direct representative of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah was present.

Following Joumblatt’s comments, Arslan shot back on Twitter that he would not meet with Joumblatt “at the expense of the blood of the martyrs.”

The latest escalation between Joumblatt and Arslan came after Gharib’s guards opened fire on a man outside the minister’s house overnight Saturday, following a brief altercation that the LDP claimed was a “continuation of the plot to assassinate Minister Gharib.”

The PSP ridiculed the idea that Rayan Merhi, the unarmed man whom the Lebanese Army later said was drunk, posed any threat to Gharib, whose house was protected by several guards as well as Army soldiers.

“Should a Bsatin resident passing next to Minister Saleh Gharib’s house also be [considered] an ambush?” a PSP statement said.

“There is no doubt that Saturday’s incident has re-electrified the atmosphere,” the political source said.

Joumblatt went on to allege that Hezbollah’s stance in support of Arslan was part of an effort to pressure him and Hariri, who are long-time allies, “into joining their [Hezbollah’s] ranks ... in the great confrontation between them and the Americans.”

But, “I have my independence, and I don’t want anyone to confiscate it from me.”

He said the “current political upheaval” was not limited to the Qabr Shmoun issue, and “therefore, the Baabda meeting is not useful unless [it proceeds with] those directly involved, rather than mouthpieces.”

“It seems that he [Nasrallah] is very interested in the Bsatin [Qabr Shmoun] incident, to the extent that he appointed himself magistrate and judge, and then reached a verdict quickly,” Joumblatt added.

In a speech Friday, Nasrallah supported Arslan’s demand to refer the case to the Judicial Council.

He also said: “If Hezbollah has an issue, it will confront you directly and will not hide behind an ally. We have the courage to do that.”

Arslan is set to hold a news conference Monday to discuss latest developments on recent tensions.

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