| Submit your comments on this article |
| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Junblatt allays fears on policy shift |
| 2009-08-05 |
| [Gulf News] A key Lebanese politician who bolted out of the Western-backed parliament majority Tuesday sought to allay concerns by some that he could join the rival Hezbollah bloc - a move that could lead to new political turmoil in the country. Druze leader Walid Junblatt said he would not ally himself with Hezbollah's camp but remain independent. But Junblatt's political realignment almost certainly will delay prime minister-designate Sa'ad Hariri's efforts to form a national unity cabinet, which has been in the works for more than a month. In a stunning move, Junblatt, who leads Lebanon's minority Druze community, declared on Sunday he was leaving the coalition he had joined "out of necessity" four years ago. Junblatt said his alliance with the Hariri bloc must end, but didn't say whether his 11 lawmaker-group would no longer vote with the coalition in parliament and thus effectively deny it a necessary majority in the 128-seat house. "I want to be independent... I did not apply to join March 8," Junblatt told the daily An-Nahar newspaper in yesterday's edition, referring to the Hezbollah led-alliance. |
| Posted by:Fred |