FPM: Those Rejecting Aoun's Election are to Blame for Vacuum
The Free Patriotic Movement has announced that a much-anticipated meeting between FPM chief MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea will be held when the two parties decide to start discussing the presidential crisis in their ongoing dialogue.
“Dialogue with the LF has reached a political agreement through the document of principles and any coming session between the two parties will be limited to the issue of presidency,” MP Alain Aoun of the FPM announced in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper to be published Monday.
FPM MP Ibrahim Kanaan and LF media officer Melhem Riachi had recently started meetings away from the media spotlight at the behest of Aoun and Geagea.
Both Geagea and Aoun have announced their candidacies for the presidency. Their rivalry, in addition to other issues, have left Baabda Palace vacant since President Michel Suleiman's six-year tenure ended in May last year.
The two parties are currently embarked on preparing a so-called declaration of intent paper consisting reportedly of 17 sections. This has been described as the first phase of dialogue.
The meeting between the two Christian leaders will occur in the second phase and will discuss an agreement over the presidential crisis, MP Alain Aoun said.
“This depends on the LF's stance and on the guarantees that will be offered by the FPM to dispel any concerns, and this is the roadmap for the second phase of dialogue,” Aoun added.
He noted, however, that the FPM's leader “is not to blame for the obstruction of the presidential vote and the blame falls on those who are rejecting his election as president.”
Turning to the issue of the cabinet crisis, Aoun declared that no one has the intention to paralyze the government.
“The mechanism must be based on the approval of ministerial blocs, not individual ministers,” Aoun said, adding that “Article 65 of the Constitution deals with normal circumstances, not extraordinary circumstances.”
Prime Minister Tammam Salam's 24-minister cabinet assumed presidential powers after Suleiman's departure but its meetings were suspended around two weeks ago due to a dispute over the signatures needed to issue decrees.
Decrees were being passed with the signatures of all 24 ministers but some cabinet members complained that the mechanism allowed some colleagues to practice an arbitrary veto power.
In this regard, Aoun noted that the government must try to be “productive” while taking into consideration that there is “an extraordinary situation resulting from the absence of a president.”
Y.R.
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