The rift between President Michel Aoun and head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat reached an unprecedented level Saturday after the Druze leader described Aoun's tenure as a "failure from its first moments.”
His tweet sparked angry reactions from the president’s camp and accusations with traded with Jumblat’s camp, casting a cloud over government formation efforts.
MP Alain Aoun from the Strong Lebanon parliamentary bloc told Asharq Al-Awsat that Jumblat’s “surprising position is a normal result of his typical and incomprehensible shift in positions.”
The deputy questioned whether his stance was related to the cabinet formation issue or to his lastest visit to Saudi Arabia.
“Jumblat’s position contradicts the statements he delivered after meeting with President Aoun during the parliamentary consultations and it constitutes a blunt coup that reflects the Druze leader’s true intentions,” the lawmaker said.
He added that even if disputes exist between the PSP and Free Patriotic Movement, which the president founded, such disagreements do not justify any attack on the presidency.
However, PSP spokesman Rami al-Rayyes told Asharq Al-Awsat that observers should not be surprised by the stances of Jumblat, who had repeatedly criticized President Aoun’s term and the performance of his political team.
“The violations committed by his team are now glaring, starting from the electricity file to the naturalization scandal.”
MP Aoun, however, said that Jumblat’s reservations on the government formation or the Syrian refugees file could not be a motive for his attack against the President.
“The issue raises questions about Jumblat’s new political repositioning,” he stated, adding that this policy fails to exert pressure on the President or change his positions.
Caretaker State Minster for Presidency Affairs Pierre Raffoul said that the labeling of President Aoun’s tenure as a “failure” would not drive divisions in the country.
“The FPM and the Druze are brothers,” he stressed.
