Aoun: We Won't Leave Government, Let the PM Quit
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Sunday stressed that his ministers “will not leave the government.”
“Let the premier quit” instead, Aoun said in an interview on Al-Jadeed television.
“We're not putting obstacles in the government's path, we're rather confronting the wrongdoing, but the premier (Najib Miqati) is paralyzing the cabinet,” Aoun charged.
He noted that any president of the republic “will have no role until we restore his powers,” calling on President Michel Suleiman to play his “real role” and “become an arbitrator according to the (current) constitution.”
“Simply, those who don't have (parliamentary) representation cannot rule,” Aoun added.
“If we had elected Suleiman as a president, that doesn't mean that he can ‘sit on our shoulders’,” he went on to say.
Commenting on his bickering with Suleiman over the issue of Christian posts, Aoun stressed that he was “the one who represents Christians in power.”
“I must select the Christian (civil servants) and until now we haven't gained anything in the administrative appointments,” he noted.
On the other hand, Aoun stressed that “the government is not Hizbullah's government.”
“Aren't (Progressive Socialist Party leader MP) Walid Jumblat and the premier part of the March 14 camp? The cabinet has 12 ministers who vote according to March 14's policies, as they (Jumblat and Miqati) have only quit that camp verbally and not truly,” Aoun claimed.
Launching a vehement attack against ex-PM Fouad Saniora, Aoun said: “Let Saniora tell us where did the donations go.”
“He does not have any trait a statesman should have and he is responsible for many scandals. He is the biggest scandal and let him and those defending him meet us in court,” Aoun added.
Asked about recent accusations that he had breached the protocol by showing up late to church on St. Maroun Day after the arrival of the president of the republic, Aoun said: “Sixty people other than me arrived late to the St. Maroun mass and I told the archbishop beforehand that I would not attend the lunch banquet” held after the mass.
“I will not respond to assumptions … as we are also subjected to insults and let's see the popular support each one of us enjoys,” Aoun said, in an indirect attack against Suleiman.
Source: Naharnet
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