Druze leader Walid Jumblat accused the pro-government March 14 camp to which he belongs as well as rivals from the Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition of trying to nominate "losers" in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

"I feel that both March 8 and March 14 Forces will try to propose the biggest number of losers and non-professionals for the parliamentary elections," Jumblat said in an interview published by the daily As Safir on Tuesday.

He said that his rival, former cabinet minister Talal Arslan, however, was excluded from this category, citing his status in Lebanon's Druze Mountains.

Turning to the present government, Jumblat said: "It better be renovated and expanded."

As Safir quoted a source close to Jumblat as confirming that the ministry of public works will go to caretaker Information Minister Ghazi Aridi.

In his weekly editorial for his Progressive Socialist Party mouthpiece Al-Anbaa, Jumblat slammed the West for failing to open an "honest dialogue" with both the Arab and Muslim worlds.

He also criticized the West for sponsoring what he called "the Zionist persecution."

"How can countries that respect human rights interact with countries such as Syria ... which keeps nearly 6,000 political detainees in its jails, unless the West believes the Arab world doesn't need freedom?" he questioned.