Friday, January 21, 2011

Jumblatt's inelegant political sunset

To follow up from my previous post, Jumblatt finally spoke today.  He waffled. He spewed some pro-Hizbollah hot air, and said that his party, the PSP, will stand by Syria and Hizbollah.

This does not mean that his "Democratic Gathering" parliamentary block will support Hizbollah. In fact, what he said is meaningless. If we are to believe some  press reports since his press conference, it is possible that 6 out of 11 members of his parliamentary block will support Hariri.  Other reports suggest that 7 out of the 11 members will support Hizbollah.

It does not matter whether 5 or 7 members of the Democratic Gathering support Hizbollah. What matters is that the Democratic Gathering has split. Jumblatt's parliamentary base has crumbled.

After years of trying to be too clever by half, Jumblatt chose a path bound to displease both sides in Lebanon.  Now the chicken will come home to roost.

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