MP Walid Jumblatt lashed out at the Syrian regime on Friday in a telephone interview with The Daily Star. According to the leader of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, the current Syrian regime "lacks rationality." Jumblatt said: "All I know is that ever since (Syrian President) Bashar Assad took over the reins in Syria, the campaign against (former Premier Rafik) Hariri escalated. The Syrian theory was that Hariri represented Sunni radicalism, which was considered as a threat to the Syrian regime." Syria is headed by a ruling Alawite minority who rule over a Sunni majority."At that time (President) Emile Lahoud was brought in by the Syrians as the strong Christian president in the face of the strong Sunni man (Hariri)," Jumblatt added. "All this theory was a precursor that paved the way for another ridiculous theory that there have to be strong alliances from Shiite to Christian to others in the face of the strong Sunni..." Jumblatt said such a theory was "absurd" as Hariri was the "best ally for Syria, when it still enjoyed rationality at the time of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad and his companions, among them his vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam." According to Jumblatt, "The best example of the lack of rationality in Syria today is that when Bashar became president Hariri told him that he had been serving the Syrian regime for the past 22 years. Yet Bashar's reply was 'I've only known you for four years.'"
Jumblatt also spoke of the process of decision-making in Syria today, asking: "Who rules Syria today? Is Bashar wielding the authority or not? Or does he enjoy a tremendous ability to camouflage this and not show that he is ruling?" Jumblatt suggested the possibility there was someone behind Assad "ordering him and who is stronger than him," and asked: "Who is this brother-in-law or the other that is taking such decisions, because it is well known that Bashar is not the one who makes the decisions in Syria."
Assad's brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, is head of Syria's intelligence apparatus. His name has been mentioned in the media as one of the Syrian suspects in the Hariri assassination. Jumblatt's statements were similar to those made by Khaddam that "a shameless mafia" is running Syria and that Assad "surrounds himself with sycophantic advisers and is unfit to rule."