Hussein DakroubHasan Lakkis| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun threatened Tuesday to boycott the national dialogue as efforts to reach a deal over military promotions, a key demand of the FPM, appeared to unravel, dashing hopes for reviving the role of Parliament and the government. Further adding to the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the reported deal over military promotions was the sudden outbreak of a verbal feud between Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil and Aoun, reflecting long-simmering tension between Speaker Nabih Berri and the FPM leader.
Taking a direct swipe at Khalil, a key adviser to Berri, Aoun claimed there were suspected “wrongdoings” at the Finance Ministry. He said Energy Ministry contractors have accused the finance minister of not paying them their dues and that the money they have received was not sufficient to pay for loans they got from banks.
“This is in addition to other wrongdoings about which I will not speak today that caused an additional financial cost,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of his parliamentary Change and Reform bloc.
Aoun’s remarks drew a quick response from Khalil, who dared the FPM chief to disclose the alleged “wrongdoings” at the Finance Ministry. “With regard to his remarks about the Energy Ministry contractors’ cry and since he [Aoun] has been accustomed to losing challenges, I dare him to announce the wrongdoings which he did not talk about in order to act accordingly,” Khalil said in a statement.
The renewed Berri-Aoun tension comes amid intensified efforts to reach a deal over the promotions of senior Army officers, viewed as essential for reactivating the role of Parliament and the Cabinet, long stalled by the 16-month presidential interregnum.
Defense Minister Samir Moqbel said he rejected any deal over military promotions at the expense of the Army. “As defense minister, I will not accept any compromise at the Army’s expense. This matter is entirely out of the question. We are against proposals [on military promotions] being discussed,” Moqbel said after meeting with former President Michel Sleiman. Moqbel also met with Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi with whom he discussed the controversial issue of military promotions. Moqbel is among eight ministers in the 24-member Cabinet who oppose military promotions to the rank of major general. These are three Kataeb ministers, three ministers loyal to Sleiman and two independent ministers , namely Telecom Minister Boutros Harb and Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon.
Kahwagi is also reported to be opposing the promotions which are primarily aimed at placating Aoun by promoting his son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, head of Army Commando Unit, to the rank of major general.
Aoun Tuesday took a tough stance on the issue of military promotions, saying his bloc was not demanding promotions, but appointments.
Commenting on media reports that the deal over military promotions included the appointment of a new chief of Internal Security Forces and the appointment of an ISF command, Aoun said: “If there is no [new] Army commander, there will be no ISF director-general.”
“We have never proposed a promotion plan. What we demanded was appointments in the Military Council and in the Army and ISF commands. But they have obstructed it and are today proposing equations and initiatives.”
Aoun hinted at boycotting next week’s national dialogue session if the row over the military promotions was not resolved. “If matters continued in this manner, I will not participate in the dialogue table,” he said. “Why should I go? Shall I go [to hear] them making hollow promises?”
Parliamentary sources in the FPM said the inclusion of the ISF appointments in the military promotions agreed upon during talks held on the sidelines of the national dialogue last week amounted to “a time bomb” aimed at either testing Aoun’s reaction, or undermining the accord reached during the meeting attended by Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Aoun, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, MP Walid Jumblatt and MP Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in Parliament.
The accord, drafted in consultations among Berri, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Jumblatt, calls for the promotion of three senior Army officers, including Roukoz, to the rank of major general, in exchange for an agreement on a Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism and the resumption of Parliament sessions after Berri has agreed to include an electoral draft law and a bill allowing foreigners of Lebanese origins to regain their nationality on the agenda.
The parliamentary Future bloc said political consensus on “some issues,” a reference to military promotions, would shield the country under the current circumstances and restore respect to constitutional institutions.
“National stability and reactivation of the work of constitutional institutions is an essential demand of all the Lebanese, particularly in this delicate stage internally, regionally and internationally,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting chaired by Siniora. “Achieving political consensus on some issues might constitute an additional safety belt particularly in this time on the way to restoring respect to institutions and the Constitution.”
The bloc renewed its call on lawmakers and political parties to end the presidential vacuum and agree on the election of a president during a Parliament session scheduled for Wednesday “on the basis of electing a president who unites rather than divides.”