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Walid Jumblatt: Iran punishing Lebanon by delaying formation of government

November 10, 2018 at 10:07 am

Veteran Lebanese politician Walid Jumblatt, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, said yesterday that Iran is punishing Lebanon by delaying the new government and refusing to announce its formation.

Against the backdrop of its confrontation with the United States and recent economic sanctions against Tehran, Iran is fabricating the problem of ministerial representation of Sunni MPs from outside the Future Movement, Jumblatt claimed.

Jumblatt made the comments in an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al Joumhouria on Friday, adding that Lebanon is now stuck on the “international-regional line of contact between Washington and Tehran”. He expressed his concern that a continuation of the current political crisis would lead to the deterioration of the Lebanese pound and the collapse of the economy, especially since Lebanon’s debt has already reached $100 billion. Jumblatt added:

Does Hezbollah think that the effects of the economic collapse – if it happened – will stop at the southern suburbs and will not affect its popular environment? […] Everyone will pay the price, we are no better than Greece.

Jumblatt also praised the efforts exerted by the Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Riadh Salameh, to protect the economy.

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Jumblatt explained that he believes the solution to the “fabricated Sunni dilemma” lies with Hezbollah and expressed hope that the party would understand the nuances of the situation in Lebanon. He pointed out that public opinion blames Hezbollah for delaying the formation of the government while the impact of the economic crisis is increasing and expressed his rejection of granting a ministerial seat to the group of Sunni MPs from outside the Future Movement, stressing that he disagreed with Hezbollah in this regard.

The politician also pointed out that he would prefer not to give the Ministry of Health to Hezbollah in the forthcoming government because the Ministry is facing problems with the international community. He explained that he would prefer it to be run by a neutral political figure, despite Hezbollah’s insistence on controlling it, adding: “What I fear is that this [latter situation] will cause the Americans to impose additional sanctions on the Ministry of Health”.

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