Report: Military Officers Term Extension Knot Could be Resolved
The speeches of Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah followed by the speech of his ally Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun “could herald a momentum towards a solution to the paralysis governing the country,” well informed sources told the daily As Safir on Saturday.
“The speech of Hizbullah leader that was followed by Aoun's TV appearance on al-Manar can form an impetus towards a solution rather than a new problem,” said the sources on condition of anonymity.
Nasrallah made a televised appearance on Friday marking the ninth anniversary of the July 2006 war with Israel. Aoun also made a televised appearance on the Hizbullah affiliate TV al-Manar.
“An evidence that there is a way out was traded shortly but on a very narrow scale pushing for the upgrade of 12 officers from the rank of Brigadier General to the rank of Major General (including Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz), in addition to the term extension of Gen. Jean Qahwaji for one additional year. However both decisions require the approval of the cabinet first and then the parliament,” the sources told the daily.
In his speech, Nasrallah called on the Christian leaders to "reevaluate their stances and consider reactivating the parliament to address the issues of the Lebanese and pave the way for reaching solutions to the other crises.”
The FPM has been hampering the cabinet's work and has accused Prime Minister Tammam Salam of infringing on the rights of the Christian president in his absence.
The movement's ministers want to amend the cabinet's working mechanism to have a say on its agenda. They also reject the extension of the terms of security and military officials, calling for the appointment of new ones.
Defense Minister Samir Moqbel extended the terms of the army commander, the chief of staff and the head of the Higher Defense Council. The decision drew the ire of Aoun who wants his son-in-law Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, who is the Commando Regiment chief, to become army commander.
The sources also told As Safir that “Most members of the March 8 alliance as well as MP Walid Jumblat are ready to approve the proposal on condition that al-Mustaqbal movement submits an approval before end of this week."
A March 14 official however said that such a step would open the doors and reactivate the parliament although more than 20 officers deserve to be upgraded before Roukoz.
A source close to al-Mustaqbal said that the proposal to raise the retirement age for the military for three years “has fallen completely for two reasons, because it threatens the hierarchy of the military and because of the large financial expenses it entails.”
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