Aoun Hits Back at Geagea, Gemayel: Govt. is Here to Stay
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday hit back at Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, who both earlier in the day called on the government to step down.
“As long as they have called on the government (to step down), its term will be extended,” Aoun said, in response to a question from a reporter after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabiyeh.
Geagea and Gemayel voiced their remarks at a rally organized by the March 14 forces at the BIEL hall in Beirut to mark ex-PM Rafik Hariri’s seventh murder anniversary.
“Every additional day in the life of this government deducts a year from the life of Lebanon and its freedom and economy. This government has been blundering around in all directions, but what’s required is one thing: stepping down,” Geagea said in his speech.
While Gemayel said “the government is obstructing itself and paralyzing the life of people and the country.”
Addressing Hariri’s assassination anniversary, Aoun said: “May God have mercy on Hariri’s soul, people deemed him a martyr while his family did not consider him to be a martyr of the nation but rather used him against us in the elections, and this is against democracy and reason.”
And tackling the latest developments concerning the government crisis, Aoun said: “We want a code of conduct for cabinet and a committee from our bloc will draft this law.”
Aoun stressed that “it is not acceptable for Premier Najib Miqati to commit the ongoing violations as he should be a symbol for respecting the laws.”
“When Miqati suspended cabinet sessions, it was not over the issue of wages but rather over administrative appointments,” the FPM leader noted.
Commenting on the latest deadly arms depot blast in Tripoli, Aoun called on the defense ministry and army command to issue statements clarifying the circumstances.
“An arms depot exploded and we don’t know what happened or to whom it belongs,” Aoun said.
He also commented on the recent deadly clashes between gunmen in the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.
“Twelve soldiers were wounded, who shot them? We don’t know. We raised the same questions during Nahr al-Bared (war between the army and the extremist Fatah al-Islam group). If we ask them about the true reasons behind the assassination of (chief of the army operations directorate Brig. Gen.) Francois al-Hajj, would they answer? Of course not,” Aoun added.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/30063 |