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Progressive Socialist PartyThe Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) (Hizb al-Taqadummi al-Ishtiraki) is a political party in Lebanon. Its current leader is Walid Jumblatt. It is officially a secular party, but in practice is led and supported mostly by followers of the Druze faith. The party was founded on 5 January 1949, and registered on 17 March the same year, under notification N789. The founders comprised six individuals, all of different backgrounds. The most notable of these was Kamal Jumblatt (Walid Jumblatt's father). The others were: The PSP held in Beirut the first conference for the Socialist Arab Parties in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq in 1951. The PSP suffered a major setback in 1977, when Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated. His son Walid succeeded him as leader of the party. Meanwhile, the PSP had built a powerful private army, which proved to be one of the strongest in the Lebanese Civil War of 1975 to 1990. It conquered much of Mount Lebanon and the Chouff region. Its main adversaries were the Maronite Christian Phalangist militia, and later the Lebanese Forces militia (which absorbed the Phalangists). Since the restoration of constitutional rule in 1989, PSP leader Walid Jumblatt has participated in a number of governments, but has more recently joined the opposition. In one of the many ironies of Lebanese politics, the PSP is now aligned with predominantly Christian parties which opposed it in the civil war. External link
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