March 14 to Remain a Majority in Lebanon; I Will Not Join Opposition
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said following his announcement that he was terminating his alliance with March 14 forces that the coalition will remain a majority in Lebanon, stressing that he will not join the opposition.
Jumblat, in remarks published by several Lebanese newspapers on Tuesday, said his Sunday announcement "will not change the Cabinet lineup."
"The majority will remain a majority," he said, stressing his keenness to ensure the success of efforts undertaken by President Michel Suleiman toward a speedy government formation.
"I want to be independent… I did not apply to join March 8," Jumblatt told the daily An Nahar newspaper in Tuesday”s edition, referring to the Hizbullah led-alliance.
A spokesman for Jumblatt”s Progressive Socialist Party told the Aljadeed TV that the departure from the pro-Western coalition was final. "But it”s not to join another group," said Rami Rayess.
He urged a rapid formation of a national unity government.
"We need to see progress toward government formation, and that is in everybody”s interest," Jumblat said.
Jumblatt stressed he was moving to the center, telling a TV station that he will take the side of Suleiman.
"I am an independent. I will not affiliate with any other team. I will join the President who is the guarantor," Jumblat said in an interview with MTV late Monday.
He pointed that a number of MPs within his Democratic Gathering bloc would vote in favor of the majority.
The Druze leader on Sunday announced that his alliance with March 14 forces had been "out of necessity and must not continue."
On Monday evening Jumblat called on the Iranian Embassy in Beirut where Ambassador Mohammed Riza Shibani extended him an invitation to visit Tehran. And on Tuesday, Jumblat is expected to visit the Beirut headquarters of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party for talks with its leader MP Assaad Hardan.