Jumblat slams ‘hardliner’ Geagea

Walid Jumblat, the former leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), clarified in an interview with L’Orient-Le Jour that it was the PSP, not he personally, that decided to skip the recent meeting in Maarab. He questioned the value of meeting with those who fail to acknowledge them, stating, “It wasn’t me. It was the PSP that took the decision not to go to Maarab. Then what’s the point of meeting people who do not recognize us?”

When asked if the PSP’s absence was intended to prevent Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea from asserting himself as the opposition leader, Jumblat explained that their political approach is fundamentally different. He described the PSP’s approach as centrist and open to compromises, contrasting it with Geagea’s more hardline stance. “We have our centrist stance and we support the approach of compromises, whereas he is a hardliner. If he wants to prove himself as a leader of the opposition, let him do that without us. I don’t have any problem,” Jumblat stated.

Jumblat also commented on the broader political dynamics at play, specifically regarding negotiations with the U.S. He highlighted that contrary to Maarab’s reluctance to acknowledge, it is Speaker Nabih Berri who is engaged in discussions with U.S. presidential envoy Amos Hochstein, mainly about decoupling the Lebanese situation from the Gaza file. “What Maarab does not want to admit is that Speaker Nabih Berri is the one tasked with negotiating with U.S. presidential envoy Amos Hochstein, and the truth is that Berri is negotiating over the possibility of separating the Lebanese file from the Gaza file,” he added.