Hasan LakkisHussein Dakroub| The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Rival leaders attending a new round of national dialogue resorted Tuesday to backstage diplomacy in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough in the controversial issue of military promotions, seen crucial for getting the stalled government functioning.

The leaders held an afternoon session, that was dominated by the 2-month-old trash crisis, and a night session focusing on ways to end the 16-month presidential vacuum and implement a reported deal on the promotions of senior Army officers, a major demand of MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement.

During the fourth round of national dialogue chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri in Parliament, the conferees from both sides of the political fence voiced support for Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb’s plan to resolve the waste crisis and urged Prime Minister Tammam Salam to enforce it.

However, the military promotions issue, which was not on the agenda, was discussed in a closed-door meeting on the sidelines of national dialogue between Berri and Aoun in the presence of Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad, Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, and MP Ibrahim Kanaan from the FPM.

This issue is growing more urgent and needs to be settled before Oct. 15, when Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, Aoun’s son-in-law, is due to retire. Another closed-door meeting was also held between Berri and Salam to discuss the garbage crisis and ways of reactivating the Cabinet, which has not met since Sept. 9 due to differences among ministers over a decision-making formula and the promotion of senior Army officers.

Following the night session, a third closed-door meeting was held attended by Berri, Salam, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb, Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon and Kanaan, who represented Aoun in the second session.

The talks sought ways to overcome obstacles facing the military promotions and they agreed to continue contacts, the National News Agency reported.

A meeting held last month on the sidelines of a national dialogue session failed to reach an agreement on military promotions. That meeting was attended by Berri, Salam, Aoun, Siniora, MP Walid Jumblatt and Raad, head of Hezbollah’s bloc in Parliament.

Efforts focused on a deal that calls for the promotion of three senior Army officers, including Roukoz, to the rank of major general, in exchange for agreement on the Cabinet’s decision-making system and the resumption of Parliament sessions. However, the military promotions issue is facing opposition from at least eight ministers in the 24-member Cabinet.

Sources close to politicians who attended the night session said that setting a date for a Cabinet session depended on Aoun’s answer, expected Wednesday, on whether his two ministers would attend the talks to discuss only one item: the garbage crisis in view of the approaching winter and the threat of trash spreading in all areas as a result of heavy rain.

Jumblatt, according to the sources, raised during the night session the topic of military promotions in an attempt to revive the role of Parliament and the government, “especially since it is difficult to solve the presidential election problem.”

Jumblatt stressed that the military promotions issue should be settled through contacts and consultations among various political parties “because this file is not on the Cabinet’s agenda.”

Deliberations during the night session centered on the qualities and specifications of the next president without delving into names of candidates, the sources said. They added that each party could outline the qualities of the president during two sessions to be held Wednesday.

An agreement on the president’s specifications will set the stage for a Cabinet meeting Thursday afternoon, the sources said.

In discussing the president’s qualities, the debate shifted to the country’s national principles and relations with Israel.

Raad reiterated Hezbollah’s stance that it would not accept any president unless he is committed to the resistance option, including the controversial tripartite equation: “The Army, the people and the resistance,” which is opposed by the March 14 coalition.

Speaking to reporters after the night session, Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh said he was “more optimistic about the possibility of reaching a solution to the [military] promotions crisis.”

Aoun suddenly left the dialogue session for health reasons, less than an hour after the talks got underway at noon. He was represented in the night session by Kanaan.

Speaking to reporters after chairing a weekly meeting of his parliamentary Change and Reform bloc at his Rabieh residence, Aoun said dialogue was ongoing, hoping it would produce positive results.

Harb told reporters as he exited the night session that the presidential crisis was discussed in depth at the two-and-a-half-hour meeting.

“We want a president who has a popular base, is accepted within his [Christian] community, and is accepted by all factions,” Harb said.

“Discussions will continue tomorrow on the president’s specifications … We will work hard to elect a president,” he added.

Asked to comment on a reported deal over the military promotions, Harb, one of the eight ministers who oppose the promotions, said: “We support anything that preserves the Army’s rank seniority, its unity and discipline.”

Rival political leaders agreed during their third round of dialogue last month to accelerate efforts aimed at ending the presidential deadlock by holding three consecutive sessions on Oct. 6, 7 and 8.

The presidential crisis is the first and main topic on the agenda of the inter-Lebanese dialogue, which was launched by Berri last month with the aim of reaching a deal on the election of a president.