PM Says Extension of Terms Necessary to Maintain Stability

Prime Minister Tammam Salam called on ministers on Monday to deal with the possible extension of the terms of high-ranking security officials with responsibility and above all interests.

He stressed in comments published in As Safir newspaper that the extension remains a better choice than vacuum, saying: “We will not bargain on stability... each minister will carry out the necessary steps to prevent vacuum in all posts.”

Asked if a ministerial bloc resigned or boycotted the government over the extension crisis, Salam said that “it's still too early to discuss the matter.”

“The issue should be tackled from a national perspective and with responsibility.”

The military posts in Lebanon are suffering as the result of the months-long presidential vacuum in light of the parliament's failure to elect a successor for Michel Suleiman whose tenure ended in May last year. The vacuum also threatens the ISF as chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous is set to retire in June and army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji, whose tenure expires at the end of September.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's bloc had continuously threatened to boycott the cabinet if the terms of high-ranking security officials were extended.

Salam expressed belief that holding a parliamentary session within the presidential vacuum is impossible, stressing the importance of legislating to facilitate the lives of people.

He called on certain political powers to “stop the disruptive manner and prioritizing the public interest.”

Speaker Nabih Berri is seeking to call for a session to approve urgent issues, including the wage scale for the public sector and the food safety draft-law, but Christian parliamentary blocs have announced their boycott of the meeting.

Parliament convenes twice a year in two ordinary sessions -- the first starts mid-March until the end of May and the second from the middle of October through the end of December.

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