Geagea: Hizbullah Takes Unilateral Decisions, Wants a Political Cabinet Cover

Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea stated on Wednesday that appointing a new army commander is the best solution to the controversial issue of extending the tenure of military chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, and accused Hizbullah party of taking unilateral strategic decisions, the As-Safir daily reported.

“Hizbullah party takes unilateral strategic decisions, which they later burden us with and ask for a cover through a political cabinet,” said Geagea.

On extending Qahwaji's mandate, Geagea assured “I am not totally against or with extending it. I am waiting for things to take shape before I take my final decision. But I see that the best solution is to appoint a new army commander.”

Qahwaji's term ends this September when he turns 60, the maximum age for the post of the army commander.

On the delay in the cabinet formation process, Geagea assured that the March 14 alliance is not responsible for that.

He said past experiences have shown that forming national unity cabinets proved to be a failure because they transfer divisions and tension from within the government to the streets.

Moreover, Geagea slammed reports accusing Saudi Arabia of the delay in forming a government. He said that March 14's demands exclude Hizbullah members was not inspired by Saudi Arabia.

He warned that “divisions are profound” adding that “March 14 is the sole party capable of real salvage to accomplish this mission,” otherwise the only acceptable solution is to form “an impartial cabinet that excludes March 14 and March 8.”

He called on PM-designate Tammam Salam to speed up the formation process in coordination with President Michel Suleiman.

March 14 demands to distance Hizbullah from the cabinet after its involvement in the Syria conflict, while March 8 asks for a political one, and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat says he rejects to vote for a single party cabinet.

On the latest campaign targeting the Lebanese Army after the Sidon clashes between Islamist cleric Ahmad al-Asir's supporters and the military, Geagea said: “There is no organized campaign against the army. There were only objections to the involvement of other illegitimate forces” in the fighting.

He added: “the political authority is complicit with Hizbullah and gives instructions to the military institutions on that basis.”