Date: Jun 24, 2019 Source: The Daily Star Future-PSP war of words deepens political rift Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star BEIRUT: A fresh war of words erupted Sunday between the Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party, reflecting renewed tensions between the two supposedly allied groups, in a development that is bound to deepen political divisions in the country and negatively affect Cabinet unity. The latest Future-PSP spat came a week after a marathon ice-breaking meeting between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil defused escalating tensions between the Future Movement and Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement and paved the way for the resumption of Cabinet sessions after a three-week break due to Eid al-Fitr. Hariri, who was out of Lebanon Sunday night, joined in a Twitter war against PSP officials, implicitly accusing them of disloyalty to allies. Replying to PSP officials’ tweets, Hariri wrote: “Our brethren in the PSP, your problem is that you don’t know what you want. When you do, let me know.” In another tweet, Hariri cast doubt on the PSP’s loyalty to its allies. “The PSP is talking about loyalty. This is the joke of the day,” Hariri tweeted. “We were surprised by [PSP leader] Walid Joumblatt’s recent escalatory stances against Prime Minister Hariri and what he represents,” Future MP Mohammad Hajjar told The Daily Star Sunday night. Asked whether a new batch of anticipated key appointments in the public administration set to be approved by the Cabinet soon was behind Joumblatt’s sudden escalatory tone against the Future Movement, Hajjar said: “We really don’t understand Joumblatt’s positions, or his motives. Anyone who knows Joumblatt’s motives, let him tell us.” On whether Sunday’s statement by Industry Minister Wael Abu Faour, who belongs to the PSP’s parliamentary bloc, that the PSP-Future relationship was not well was the reason for the escalation, Hajjar noted that tweets by Joumblatt and other PSP officials in recent days casting doubts on Hariri’s prerogatives and the government’s work were to be blamed for the tensions. Joumblatt has also been critical of the 2016 political settlement that led to the election of Michel Aoun as president and brought back Hariri to the premiership. The NBN channel, affiliated with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement, quoting PSP sources, said Sunday night that an agreement had been reached to halt the media campaigns between the PSP and Future as a result of Berri’s mediation. The truce was reflected in a tweet from Joumblatt in which he urged PSP officials and supporters to avoid “falling into the trap of rhetoric and public responses with the Future Movement.” Abu Faour was also reported to have held a meeting with former Minister Ghattas Khoury, a political adviser to Hariri, as part of de-escalation efforts. Abu Faour denied that differences with Hariri over public appointments were behind the tensions with the Future Movement, but he warned that no one could sideline Joumblatt in the distribution of public posts. “The issue of appointments has not been discussed with the Future Movement. There has been no advanced discussion of the appointments with any side. But no one can override Walid Joumblatt in the issue of appointments. Anyone who can, let him try,” Abu Faour told Al-Jadeed TV Sunday night. He called for a review of the “historic relationship” between the PSP and the Future Movement. “There are issues that need to be discussed in a serious and cordial manner,” he said. Earlier in the day, Abu Faour, speaking during a meeting with heads of municipalities in Rashaya, said the relationship between the two parties was “not well.” “We [the PSP] have an opposing opinion on the current political path. It is normal, given the historic relationship between the two sides, for a dialogue to take place between us and the Future Movement in order to outline the future approach,” Abu Faour said, in remarks carried by the state-run National News Agency. The industry minister’s comments came at the peak of escalating tension between the two parties that erupted earlier this month over the removal of a PSP loyalist from the municipal council of the Chouf town of Shehim. Soon after Hariri’s comments, MP Bilal Abdallah, who belongs to PSP’s parliamentary bloc, struck back at the premier. “Unfortunately, our problem with you, your excellency [Hariri], is that we know what we want and why do you give up something that is not your property and how you work hard every day to weaken your [power base] on the pretext of protecting the nation, while the truth is somewhere else,” Abdallah tweeted. “We wish you would respond to those who undermine the powers of your position every day,” Abdullah retorted, in a clear reference to Bassil, who has been accused of infringing on the prime minister’s powers. Responding to PSP officials’ tweets, Hariri wrote: “It’s clear that one hour [you call] for a media cease-fire and after midnight you launch a new attack and then you withdraw the tweet and apologize. Let the people be the judge, or is that not even allowed?” Joumblatt, known for his flip-flop positions on political issues, has on multiple occasions deleted tweets that criticized Hariri and the Future Movement. The PSP and Future Movement have historically been allies, dating back to Hariri’s father, the late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. However, the relationship between the two parties has been marred by tensions and rockiness in recent years. The PSP-Future rift followed escalating tensions between the FPM and the Future Movement. The latest episode began last month when Bassil accused Sunni political leaders of assuming key state posts “on the corpse of the Maronite political establishment, taking all the Christians’ rights [to public posts].”