Hasan LakkisWassim Mroueh

BEIRUT: The Lebanese Cabinet is set for a heated confrontation Thursday over security appointments and the decision-making mechanism of the executive branch unless a last-minute deal is reached to avert a seemingly inevitable showdown.

In a show of force, hundreds of motorists supportive of MP Michel Aoun cruised the streets of Beirut, Metn, Kesrouan and other Lebanese areas days after the Free Patriotic Movement leader called on his partisans to get ready to take to the streets in case the outcome of Thursday’s session was unfavorable to the group.

But a source close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam said the government would hold a regular session and discuss the regular agenda despite the FPM escalation.

“He [Salam] insists on this out of his eagerness not to paralyze the country,” the source told The Daily Star Wednesday.

The source said demonstrations that could be staged by the FPM were “a democratic form of expression.”

Aoun, who insists that the government should make security appointments before moving to any other item, was angered when the Cabinet sidelined his demands and approved a decision to fund the export of agricultural produce by sea.

The FPM leader is lobbying for the appointment of his son-in-law, Brig. Gen. Shamel Roukoz, head of the Army’s Special Commando Unit, as the new Army commander.

Backed by Hezbollah, the Marada Movement and the Tashnag Party, Aoun accuses Salam of going back on a decision-making mechanism government parties agreed upon after the presidency became vacant. The mechanism ensures that decisions are made by consensus.

Following a visit to Salam at the Grand Serail, MP Walid Jumblatt said there was no justification for disrupting Cabinet sessions.

“Throughout the ill-fated Lebanese Civil War, Lebanon was burning and the Arab states around us were stable. Today Lebanon is stable and most Arab states surrounding us are burning. Thus, fires could be at [our doorsteps] and I find no justification for disrupting Cabinet sessions run with the wisdom of Premier Tammam Salam,” Jumblatt said.

“There are items that should be passed [by the Cabinet] to prevent the coming fires from reaching us and in order to serve people,” he added.

MP Ghazi Aridi, who accompanied Jumblatt, told The Daily Star the Progressive Socialist Party leader did not carry any proposals with him to break the Cabinet deadlock. But other PSP sources said Jumblatt urged Salam to do his best to avoid a confrontation during the session.

Salam also received Kataeb Party leader Sami Gemayel, accompanied by the three Kataeb ministers.

Speaking after the meeting, Gemayel expressed his support for Salam and opposed raising the issue of security appointments and resorting to street protests considering that the appointment of an Army chief was not due before September.

“At the start of the summer season, people are told that there will be protests,” Gemayel said. “This is not the right place or time.”

“We wish for the mechanism of appointments to be respected. It is very clear: The term of Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi expires in September. Thus, the appointment of a successor is raised only one or two weeks before that date.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah intensified efforts to reduce possible tension that could take place during the session between FPM ministers and those loyal to Speaker Nabih Berri, who supports Salam’s position, according to March 8 sources.

To coordinate stances ahead of the session, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Aoun’s son-in-law, hosted at the Foreign Ministry a meeting that brought together Education Minister Elias Bou Saab, also from FPM, Hezbollah ministers Hussein Hajj Hasan and Mohammad Fneish, Tashnag Party Minister Arthur Nazarian and Marada Minister Raymond Areiji.Speaking after the meeting, Bassil said Thursday was a “fateful and a decisive day,” noting that the government could not exist without the FPM and Hezbollah which he claimed represented half of the Lebanese.

He voiced hope that “ethical” guarantees would prevent his group from taking any escalatory moves.

“We and Hezbollah represent half of the country. … Just like there is no country without us, there is no government and government decisions without us. This issue will be discussed tomorrow,” Bassil said.

Criticizing Salam, Bassil said the same man was simultaneously exercising the powers of the premier and the president.

Ministerial sources said that under a possible middle ground solution, the FPM would not resort to street protests Thursday in return for Salam not bringing up any agenda item for discussion during the Cabinet session.

The sources said that if such an agreement was reached, the session would witness long discussions for over three hours, which is the time limit that Cabinet meetings should adhere to.

The FPM, Marada, Tashnag Party and Hezbollah ministers are set to express their opposition to the way a decree allotting $21 million to help export agricultural and industrial products by sea was passed during last week’s session.

The six ministers are also expected to raise the way decisions are made in the Cabinet and highlight the need to respect the political agreement made among its parties after the presidency became vacant, stating that decisions are made by consensus.

With talks expected to have no outcome, Salam would adjourn the session.

The sources said that the Cabinet session following Thursday’s would only convene after Eid al-Fitr, which falls on July 17. Until then, Hezbollah ministers would try to promote a compromise, the sources said.