Jumblatt Says Aoun is Irrational Ruler Who Wants to Commit Suicide

 FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
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Jumblatt Says Aoun is Irrational Ruler Who Wants to Commit Suicide

 FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

Head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt described Lebanese President Michel Aoun as an "irrational ruler who wants to commit suicide.”

"Let him commit suicide alone, along with his dear son-in-law,” Jumblatt said in a TV statement, in reference to former Minister and MP Gebran Bassil.

His remarks came on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“Despite the severity of the circumstance, we must derive strength from the occasion. We have continued to some extent, and others must continue in the country of universities, diversity and civilized coexistence,” he noted.

Jumblatt further underlined the need for “a new political formula, as we cannot continue with the old one.”

“Today there is a destructive ruler and an absurd rule.”

Touching on the obstacles hindering the formation of a new government, he told Future TV that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri devised a formula that suits all components but rejected to grant the “vetoing third” to the president.

“Enough with this vetoing-third that impeded the country for 15 years!” Jumblatt added.

The PSP leader emphasized the need for “a constitutional way to resolve the current impasse.”

He reminded that French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need to implement reforms in exchange for help from the international community.

“We missed the opportunity,” Jumblatt said.



Berri: Bloodshed in South Lebanon is ‘Urgent Call’ to Compel Israel to Withdraw

26 January 2025, Lebanon, Kfarkila: A Lebanese soldier opens the road to an ambulance carrying a wounded Lebanese shot by Israeli army as he tried to enter into his southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
26 January 2025, Lebanon, Kfarkila: A Lebanese soldier opens the road to an ambulance carrying a wounded Lebanese shot by Israeli army as he tried to enter into his southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
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Berri: Bloodshed in South Lebanon is ‘Urgent Call’ to Compel Israel to Withdraw

26 January 2025, Lebanon, Kfarkila: A Lebanese soldier opens the road to an ambulance carrying a wounded Lebanese shot by Israeli army as he tried to enter into his southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa
26 January 2025, Lebanon, Kfarkila: A Lebanese soldier opens the road to an ambulance carrying a wounded Lebanese shot by Israeli army as he tried to enter into his southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun. Photo: Marwan Naamani/dpa

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said that Sunday's bloodshed in southern Lebanon “is a clear and urgent call for the international community to act immediately.”

Israeli forces in southern Lebanon on Sunday opened fire on protesters demanding their withdrawal in line with a ceasefire agreement, killing at least 22 and injuring 124, Lebanese health officials reported.
The dead included six women and a Lebanese army soldier, the Health Ministry said in a statement. People were reported wounded in nearly 20 villages in the border area.

In remarks carried by the Lebanese media, Berri also said that the international community should “compel Israel to withdraw from occupied Lebanese territories.”

Berri, whose Amal Movement party is allied with Hezbollah, served as an interlocutor between the militant group and the US during ceasefire negotiations.