Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt told As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper on Thursday that his meeting with Saudi Information and Culture Minister Abdel Aziz Khoja was “more than excellent,” adding that his announcement at the PSP convention on Sunday “was misinterpreted as a split from the March 14 alliance, but I simply called for the reevaluation of the majority’s political agenda to respect the particularity of the PSP, specifically the Druze community.”

Jumblatt said that he did not leave the March 14 coalition and that his position will not impede the cabinet formation, saying he is “willing to facilitate the formation of the government.”

He also said that his alliance with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is “strategic” and dates back to his “special relationship” with former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Jumblatt commended Saudi Arabia’s support of reconciliations among Lebanese parties, stressing the importance of the Armistice Agreement, Lebanon’s Arab entity, Syrian-Lebanese relations as well as the Saudi-Syrian rapprochement, which, according to the PSP leader, preserves the Taif Accord.

-NOW Staff