Presidency Says Claims Aoun Flouted Constitution 'Weaken Lebanese Position'

The Presidency’s press office on Tuesday noted that claims that President Michel Aoun has violated the Constitution “weaken the Lebanese position” in the border demarcation negotiations with Israel.

“To date, the President has not signed or ratified any international treaty in order to agree on it with the Premier,” the office said in a statement.

“Any other remarks distort the Constitution and are aimed at either misinformation or, what’s worse, weakening the Lebanese stance at the wrong moment, seeing as Lebanon is going to practical and technical negotiations over the demarcation of its maritime border to preserve its natural resources and sovereignty over every inch of its land and waters,” the office said.

It added: “Enough with polemics in the era of seriousness and we direly need solidarity and national cohesion for the sake of preserving or recapturing our sovereign rights.”

The Premiership had said Monday that Aoun had made a “clear and blatant violation of a constitutional text” by not coordinating with caretaker PM Hassan Diab in the formation of the team that will handle the negotiations.