Hariri Says Govt. Solidarity Intact as Cabinet Convenes amid Aoun-Berri Row
Prime Minister Saad Hariri reassured Thursday that “solidarity will continue among the government components,” as the Cabinet convened in Baabda amid an ongoing spat between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri.
The Cabinet has 43 items on its agenda, topped by a request from the Defense Ministry to refer the case of the Arsal, Ras Baalbek and al-Qaa clashes to the Judicial Council, Lebanon’s highest state security court.
Baabda sources said Hariri “has not proposed anything regarding the seniority decree,” ruling out that the controversial issue would be raised in the Cabinet session.
“There is strong keenness on the proper functioning of Cabinet,” the sources added.
Asked whether he would raise the issue, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told reporters before the session that he would only speak if someone else raises the contentious topic.
“Solidarity among the government components will continue and any dispute can be resolved to secure the country’s interest and protect stability,” Hariri said at the opening of the session.
“The importance of the Cabinet is that it was a work team that protected the country and safeguarded political stability and security. This team made a lot of achievements last year and it has an agenda to implement ahead of the elections,” the premier added.
Aoun for his part called on the government to continue the administrative appointments, complete the preparations for parliamentary elections, and begin studying the 2018 state budget.
He also called on the Defense Ministry and security agencies to finish their preparations and papers for the International Support Group for Lebanon meeting that will be held in Rome.
Separately, the president stressed his keenness on freedoms as well as on “the law and the respect of the judiciary,” in reference to the judiciary’s summoning of prominent talk show host Marcel Ghanem.
Aoun is engaged in a spat with Berri over a controversial decree granting one-year seniority to a number of officers.
After the decree was signed by Aoun and Hariri, Berri and Finance Minister Khalil insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature.
Aoun and his aides have argued that the decree did not require Khalil's signature because it did not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against.
Ain el-Tineh sources have meanwhile warned that the decree would tip sectarian balance in favor of Christians in the army's highest echelons.
The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy when Syrian forces ousted Aoun’s military government from Baabda in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.
Source: Naharnet
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