Bassil: No Partisan Interests Were Involved in Military Council Appointments

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil hailed on Friday the cabinet's success in approving the Military Council appointments after months of disputes.

He said during a press conference: “No partisan interests were involved in approving the appointments.”

“Thursday's approval of this issue is a recognition of a main component of cabinet,” he added.

“We however lament the failure to appoint a new army commander even though we were compensated for this with the Military Council appointments,” said the minister from the Foreign Ministry.

“We have achieved some of our demands and insist on achieving the rest,” Bassil continued.

“The cabinet's work was revitalized on the basis of consensus, which helps us to manage the country's affairs,” he noted.

The government approved on Thursday the appointment of three Military Council officers, a long-time demand of the Free Patriotic Movement, which along with Hizbullah and the Tashnag Party have boycotted recent cabinet sessions.

The three Military Council posts -- reserved for a Shiite, a Greek Orthodox and a Catholic -- have been vacant for the past two years.

The appointed officers were identified as Mohsen Fneish, George Shreim and Samir al-Hajj.

The Kataeb Party and Telecom Minister Boutros Harb had warned that they would reject the appointments under the excuse that the names suggested do not meet the standards of the military institution.