BEIRUT: The Free Patriotic Movement is threatening to keep the presidency vacant and Parliament and Cabinet unable to meet should a deal on military promotions not be approved, sources from the group told The Daily Star Thursday. “If they [some political factions] want to block the deal, then a president will not be elected, Parliament will not meet and Cabinet will continue not to convene,” one source told The Daily Star.
The deal over the promotions of senior Army officers was reported to have been reached during a meeting held last week on the sidelines of a national dialogue session.
That meeting was attended by Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, FPM leader Michel Aoun, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, MP Walid Jumblatt and MP Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in Parliament.
The accord calls for the promotion of three senior Army officers, including Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, Aoun’s son-in-law, to the rank of major general, in exchange for an agreement on Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism and the resumption of Parliament sessions after Berri agrees to include an electoral draft law and a bill on allowing foreigners of Lebanese origins to regain their nationality on the agenda.
But the deal faces opposition from eight ministers who are members of the “Consultative Gathering,” a group chaired by former President Michel Sleiman. The group reiterated its stance after a meeting Thursday.
“The Consultative Gathering stresses the necessity of distancing the Army from the policy of appeasement and sharing of spoils and calls for leaving it in the hands of those responsible for it,” the group said in a statement read by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel.
“The group reiterates its opposition to any settlement at the expense of the Army’s structure and hierarchy,” Moqbel said.
The Consultative Gathering comprises three ministers close to Sleiman including Moqbel, another three from the Kataeb Party along with two independent March 14 ministers.
Asked whether he would propose any promotions to Army officers during a Cabinet session, Moqbel said: “If the government convenes to discuss this issue, then the defense minister has to raise the issue of promotions and appointments and it is up to the government to make the appropriate decision.”
Sleiman has proposed postponing Roukoz’s retirement for one year instead of promoting him. Roukoz retires mid-October.
Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat told LBCI television station that his group would abide by any decision made by its leader Saad Hariri regarding the promotions deal.Salam for his part expressed hope that national dialogue sessions, chaired by Berri, would “reflect positively on the performance of the government and all the political forces to be able to find a way out to our problems.”
Salam, who returned from New York Thursday for the U.N. General Assembly meetings, made his remarks to Sky News Arabia. Meanwhile, the war of words between Hezbollah and Future Movement continued.
Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc held the Future Movement “completely responsible for the paralysis that hit state institutions and its repercussions on the interests of citizens.”
In a statement after its weekly meeting, the bloc accused Future of going back on agreements and violating the stipulations of the Constitution and the National Pact, particularly those related to national partnership. “This partnership requires the true representation of Lebanese segments inside state institutions, with the presidency in the forefront,” it said.
