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Machnouk: Salam won’t call Cabinet session this week

 

Hussein DakroubHasan Lakkis| The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam will not call for a Cabinet session this week in order to give mediators time to resolve a crisis over the thorny issue of security appointments that has thrown the government into paralysis, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said Sunday.

 

He also said the issue of appointing a new Army chief would not be discussed before September when Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi’s term expires, a move that is likely to draw the ire of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, who is lobbying for his son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, the head of the Army Command Unit, to assume the top military post.

 

“Prime Minister Salam will not call for a Cabinet session this week in order to leave the door open for political solutions,” Machnouk said in an interview with Al-Jadeed TV. “Salam has opened door for political solutions to the [Cabinet] crisis within one or two weeks at the utmost. If this does not work, Salam will call for a Cabinet session.”

 

In addition to Salam’s contacts with all the key political parties, Machnouk said Speaker Nabih Berri and MP Walid Jumblatt, who met Sunday, would also be making their own efforts to resolve the latest Cabinet crisis over the appointment of senior military and security officers.

 

The Cabinet plunged into paralysis last Thursday after it failed to agree on the contentious issue of security and military appointments.

 

After the Cabinet was unable to agree on a new head of the Internal Security Forces, Machnouk signed a decree, effectively extending by two years the mandate of ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous, who was to retire June 5. The move drew the wrath of the FPM’s ministers. Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said the FPM’s ministers would block any Cabinet decision from now on until security appointments are made.

 

Machnouk hit back at Bassil. “Under the Constitution, none of the ministers has the right to set the [Cabinet] agenda or confine the discussions to one item,” he said. He added that the premier is the one who sets the agenda and directs the session, while the president has right to be informed beforehand of the agenda.

 

Machnouk emphatically rejected Aoun’s persistent demand to appoint a new Army commander now. “We will not agree under pressure to appoint a new Army commander before the expiry of Gen. Kahwagi’s term,” he said. “This matter [the appointment of a new Army commander] will not be discussed under any circumstances before September.”

 

Machnouk also implicitly ruled out Aoun’s chances to be elected president. “We want a consensual candidate for the presidency. There is no chance for a non-consensual candidate,” he said.

 

He sounded pessimistic about an early solution to the yearlong presidential deadlock. He voiced fears that the presidential vacuum might last longer than this year. “The situation in Lebanon will not be crystallized before it becomes clear which trend developments in Syria will take,” Machnouk said.

 

His remarks came shortly after Jumblatt said he was working with Berri to overcome the Cabinet crisis. “We will try with Speaker Berri to overcome some political obstacles in order to consolidate stability,” Jumblatt told reporters after meeting Berri at the latter’s residence in Ain al-Tineh.

 

Referring to Parliament’s inability to meet and approve important draft laws because key Christian blocs have refused legislation amid the yearlong presidential vacuum, Jumblatt said: “We will try together [with Berri] to reach the so-called legislation of necessity. We will make every effort to preserve Lebanon even though the fire is burning everything in our surroundings.”

 

For his part, Aoun vowed to not back down on his demands, accusing the government of trampling over the rights of Christians by preventing them from choosing new security chiefs. “Christians today have had their rights stolen from them,” Aoun told a delegation of Baabda residents at his Rabieh residence Saturday. “And our [rivals] refuse to give back what they have taken. So we will confront them and we will not change our convictions for whatever the reason, because this is the final battle.”

 

Addressing supporters in Rabieh Sunday, Aoun did not rule out the possibility of resorting to street protests to press the FPM’s demands.

 

Meanwhile, Salam said during a meeting with a number of reporters Sunday that it was not the first time his Cabinet had faced such a situation that threatened to paralyze the government’s work.

“We hope that all political parties will realize the gravity of the situation and will not persist in their attempts to paralyze the executive branch of power,” he said.

 

Salam stressed the importance of the Cabinet’s productivity amid a sharp political polarization that affects all important issues, such as the approval of pending draft laws in Parliament. He added that international organizations are exerting pressure on Lebanon to approve bills that would finance a number of vital projects in the country.

 

Amid the yearlong presidential vacuum and the paralysis in the executive and legislative branches of power, Salam pledged to stay in office.

 

“I will not be negligent in any helping role or stance. I will not abandon the trust in my hand for the sake of paralysis,” Salam said.

 

Salam praised security forces for confronting “those trying to tamper with the people’s security.” However, he warned that a deterioration of the political situation would reflect negatively on security institutions.

 

The premier said the security situation in Arsal is under control, adding that the Army has been tasked with taking the measures it deems appropriate. “The Army is ready to confront terror forces. There is a clear decision [for the Army] to fight and confront [these forces],” he said.