Franjiyeh follows in Jumblatt’s footsteps , wants his son Tony to replace him as MP

MP Sleiman Frangieh, the head of the Marada Movement, follows in PSP leader’s footsteps and would like his son Tony to replace him as one of the MPs in the Lebanese parliament , according to media reports .

This comes after ProgressiveSocialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt decided to resign his parliamentary post and get his son Taymour more “involved” in politics.

Taymour visited Berri last week , accompanied by Minister of Health Wael Abou Faour; during the visit he expressed an interest in replacing his father as the Shouf district MP .

The PSP leader was expected to announce his resignation this week , but MTV reported on Saturday that Berri is currently rejecting the idea of Jumblatt’s resignation, and so is Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, who prefers not to enter into the hassle of by-elections at the moment.

Sources close to MP Franjieh told MTV on Saturday:

“He will not submit his resignation unless there is a decision to hold a by-election. If Jumblat resigns, it will mean that he received guarantees that the by-election will be held and only then Franjieh would submit his resignation.”

According to reliable sources Jumblatt feels threatened due to his anti Syrian regime stance and does not want to be in the same position as his Dad when he was assassinated by the Syrian regime .

Walid’s father, Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated on March 16, 1977 in the Shouf district by Syrian government agents . Kamal never involved his son in politics .

The PSP leader is married to Nora Sharabati, the daughter of the former Syrian defense minister Ahmed Al-Sharabati.

In addition to Taymour ( 32) he has another son Aslan (Born 1983 ) and daughter Dallia (born 1989).

Jumblatt has been grooming Taymour to follow in his footsteps . Taymour has been for the past 5 years attending political and social ceremonies on behalf of his father.

Franjiyeh is the grandson of former president Suleiman Franjiyeh. Unlike Jumblatt, Franjiyeh is very closely associated with the Syrian regime of president Bashar al Assad and reportedly has his own suite at Assad’s palace in Damascus .