Beirut: General Michel Aoun and Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) members have threatened to walk out of the government if specific security appointments are not made.
The warning came on Sunday when Aoun’s son-in law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, explicitly said, “there will be no security appointments in which we don’t have a say.”
Prime Minister Tammam Salam wants to extend the mandate of Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) commander General Jean Qahwaji whose mandate ends in September this year and is also a rival candidate to Aoun for the presidency, a position that Aoun has always dreamed of but continuously fails to attain.
Bassil, meanwhile, has been criss-crossing the country, trying to gather popular support for the FPM position on the security appointments.
Aoun is pushing for his other son-in-law, Special Forces chief Brigardier General Chamel Roukoz, to replace Qahwaji, who is slated to retire soon.
Conversely, the FMP wants to extend the mandate of Internal Security Forces (ISF) commander Major General Ebrahim Basbous, whose mandate ends next month.
If Aoun withdraws his three ministers, the Salam Government is unlikely to survive, which further raises the trust bar in the power games that Lebanese officials play ad nauseum.
The FPM party is part of the March 8 alliance which is the second largest bloc in the parliament after the March 14 alliance.
“The Army commander’s post is a Maronite post,” Bassil said, and the “Maronites have the final say in it,” without realizing that the LAF served the entire country irrespective of its officers’ religious denominations.
A few weeks ago, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose party is also in the March 8 coalition, backed Aoun’s demand over the security chief appointments.
With the country approaching one year in May without a president, it seems very unlikely that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and other leaders would be pleased with Aoun’s threats and tolerate another political vacuum.
