Jumblatt may exit Lebanese government

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- A Lebanese opposition leader has threatened to pull out from the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora if it approves privatization of the public sector.

Walid Jumblatt, a Druze overlord who spearheaded the opposition drive that forced Syria out of Lebanon in April, said he will pull out the three ministers representing his Progressive Socialist Party in government if the Cabinet privatizes public sector institutions such as the electricity company and the postal and telephone departments.

"We will not accept what the bulk of the people refuse, and we will not compromise on the interest of the public by selling out the public sector because we believe it could be improved," Jumblatt said in comments carried in Beirut's daily newspaper As-Safir.

Jumblatt's stance raises the specter of a Cabinet crisis only a month after the formation of Siniora's government.

Siniora was the former financial adviser of slain Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and served as finance minister several times during Hariri's office.