Jumblatt, Arslan agreed to disagree

During a gathering at the Municipality of the town of Shouaifat a suburb of Beirut which was called for by the head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, Talal Arslan, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said: “I might have a (different) viewpoint in political affairs and this is perfectly legal.”

He reiterated that he remains allied in the government with PM Najib Mikati , president Michel Suleiman, Arslan, Free patriotic Movement , Hezbollah and Amal but this does not mean that he cannot have a different viewpoint

“We are not asked to have the same point of view and a single opinion,” Jumblatt added.

The gathering was organized to contain the repercussions resulting from the killing of 19-year-old Ali Sheet . The young man died earlier in the month when a bank guard in Shouaifat shot and killed him as he was trying to snatch a woman’s handbag. …residents protested against the killing by blocking the roads

Commenting on the Special tribunal for Lebanon he said some consider this an American Israeli tool while others consider it our only way to justice . He added we found a way to handle this issue thanks to speaker Nabih Berri. A possible reference to the funding of the tribunal

He also confessed that there is disagreement on the issue of Syria but stressed : “All what I, Talal and (Hezbollah chief) Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah care for is for Syria to stay united and for the ghost of civil war to stay far.”

“Syria should be a pluralist democracy. That’s my point of view because our security is linked to Syria “he added.

Arslan on the other hand reiterated his alliance with the Syrian regime : “I have my own viewpoint … as for Syria I am not ashamed of my friendship with Assad.”

While Jumblatt has been calling on Syrian president Bashar al Assad to implement the reforms as soon as possible , Arslan headed a delegation to Syria earlier this month to to pledge allegiance to Assad.

Jumblatt commented on the controversial weapons of the Shiite group Hezbollah by saying: “The party committed a grave mistake on May 7, 2008.”

In May 2008, Hezbollah pointed its weapons against the Lebanese people following a cabinet decision to shut down its contentious private telecommunication network. The PSP was among the parties with which Hezbollah clashed.

Jumblatt however stressed that an agreement had been reached after the Taef accord to keep the weapons with the resistance until the liberation of all occupied Lebanese territories.

Both called for “ calm and unity to confront the developments no matter how different the political viewpoints were.”