Progressive Socialist Party of Druze overlord Walid Jumblat held its annual general assembly on Sunday during which it reiterated its support of Hizbullah's resistance until the liberation of the disputed Shabaa Farms on the foothills of Mount Hermon and called for correcting the unbalanced Lebanese-Syrian relations in accordance with the 1989 Taif peace pact which silenced the guns of the 1975-1990 civil war.

The party and its leader, who were regarded among Syria's main allies in Lebanon, fell out with Damascus over the extension of the mandate of the pro-Syrian regime of President Emile Lahoud. The PSP's manifesto also stressed total rejection of the internationalization of the Lebanese political crisis and U.S. interference in Lebanon's domestic affairs, noting however that the extension of Lahoud's term by another three years opened the door for foreign interference.

After stressing its total commitment to the Arab identity of Lebanon and strong relations between Lebanon and Syria in line with the Taif Accord, the PSP manifesto urged a correction of the imbalance in relations warning that if such a state continued "it would jeopardize the bases of the Lebanese democratic system." It rejected attempts to turn Lebanese-Syrian relations into an "example of security ties under which decision-making is controlled by security agencies." It also called for confronting the police state which was further reinforced by the "constitutional coup d'etat" that took place with the extension of President Lahoud's mandate.

The PSP reiterated calls for the resignation of Karami's government and replacing it by a neutral administration capable of holding objective, transparent and honest general elections in spring next year. The PSP's general assembly meeting held at the Beau Rivage Hotel was attended by various opposition parties, especially those who were against the extension. But Hizbullah declined the invitation to attend the meeting, An Nahar noted.