Hasan Lakkis| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: No signs have so far emerged of a breakthrough in the crisis over the Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism, ministerial sources in the Free Patriotic Movement said Monday, signaling a new showdown at next week’s session. Meanwhile, senior officials from the Future Movement and Hezbollah met Monday night in a fresh round of talks overshadowed by the dispute over the government’s decision-making mechanism.
“The problem [over the issue of military and security appointments] is still there. The FPM is confident that the extension of the terms of military commanders will take place and the FPM’s ministers cannot prevent the defense minister from taking such a step on the pretext that there is no consensus on security appointments inside the Cabinet,” the sources said.
The sources warned that insistence on the extension of military chiefs’ terms would prompt MP Michel Aoun’s FPM to take a stance leading to paralyzing the Cabinet’s work.
Noting that the FPM’s two ministers will not resign from the Cabinet, the sources said if the other side – the Future Movement, March 14 and independent ministers – insisted on the extension of military and security chiefs’ mandates, “this means that they are pushing the situation toward paralyzing the government’s work.”
Following a shouting match last week between Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who implicitly accused the premier of violating the Constitution and infringing on the Maronite president’s powers, the Cabinet decided to meet on July 23 to discuss a mechanism to govern its decision-making and exercise executive powers in the absence of a president.
But the FPM sources said they did not expect positive results at next week’s session.
“It’s no longer a technical constitutional issue. It has become a political matter as the March 14 team insists on not appointing a new Army commander until the first extension of [Army commander Gen. Jean] Kahwagi’s term expires [on Sept. 23],” the sources said, adding: “This will be a constitutional and legal violation which we will not allow to pass and which we will confront even in the street if the need arises.”
The latest Cabinet crisis erupted last month over the contentious issue of appointing senior military and security officers. The FPM’s ministers have insisted that they would not allow the Cabinet to discuss any topic before it addresses appointments of new security chiefs.
Aoun, who strongly opposes the extension of Kahwagi’s term, is lobbying for the appointment of his son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, the head of the Army Commando Regiment, as Army commander.
The crisis later expanded into a new row over the government’s decision-making mechanism and exercising the president’s powers by the Cabinet amid the yearlong presidential vacuum.
Parliamentary sources familiar with the Cabinet crisis said that Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah’s speech last week in which he said that a solution to the crisis lay in a dialogue and understanding between the FPM and the Future Movement has not so far gained attention from any party.
According to the sources, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has left the door open with regard to the presidential deadlock by saying during a speech Sunday that he would not veto any presidential candidate.
However, Hariri’s call for “a realistic solution” to the presidential crisis clearly indicated that there is no chance for an agreement on the leader of the parliamentary Change and Reform bloc (Aoun) for president, thus keeping the crisis in the same framework, the sources said.
Salam reiterated Monday that he would uphold the principle of consensus as the Cabinet’s decision-making system, stressing that he would not allow the executive branch to be paralyzed. Speaking to a delegation from the Committee to Defend the Rights of Beirut, Salam called for calm and avoiding political bickering and protecting the country’s stability.
“Article 64 in the Constitution states that the Cabinet makes its decisions by consensus or with [a majority] of half [of ministers] plus one, or with two-thirds,” he said. “The Constitution begins with consensus. Since the beginning, I have decided to adopt consensus.”
Salam stressed that the Cabinet has nothing to do with political disputes. “We are a coalition government. The best place to discuss political matters is among political parties and not at the Cabinet table,” he said.
As the Cabinet’s crisis over decision-making persisted, Future Movement and Hezbollah officials met Monday for another round of bilateral dialogue.
“Today’s session is a continuation of previous dialogue sessions,” MP Hasan Fadlallah, one of three officials representing Hezbollah in the dialogue, told The Daily Star ahead of the talks.
Asked if the Cabinet rift over decision-making would be discussed, he said: “All topics are under discussion.”
In an interview with the Voice of Lebanon radio station ahead of the session, Future MP Ammar Houri said the talks with Hezbollah would focus on two key issues: finding a breakthrough in the presidential deadlock and reducing tensions.
Monday’s was the 15th round of dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah designed primarily to defuse sectarian and political tensions, aggravated by the 4-year-old war in Syria.
A verbal feud between the Future Movement and Hezbollah has marked strained relations between the two rival parties since they began their dialogue last December.