Aoun Vows to Challenge Qahwaji Extension Term if Legal Councils 'Still Function'
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Friday accused some officials of seeking to extend the term of the army chief while keeping other top posts in the administration vacant, warning his bloc would challenge the extension.
“There is a plot against the cabinet which has the sole authority to propose a bill on the extension” of Gen. Jean Qahwaji's term, which ends this September when he turns 60, Aoun said during a press conference at his residence in Rabieh.
“If the Constitutional Council or Shura Council are still functioning, then they can deal with the challenge that we would make,” Aoun quipped.
Last month, the Constitutional Council failed to address legal challenges to parliament’s extension, after several judges boycotted the meetings due to political interference.
Aoun described Qahwaji's extension as “illegal,” saying it harms army ranks.
“There are a lot of competent officers who can lead the army,” said Aoun, whose Change and Reform bloc has boycotted two consecutive parliamentary sessions that have the extension on the agenda in addition to 44 other draft-laws.
Another session is set for next Monday.
The FPM chief urged officials “to open their files and choose the best” from among the army's ranks, rather than making the extension.
“There are around 179 high-ranking vacant posts in the administration. Why haven’t there been appointments?” he wondered.
Asked about the European Union's decision to blacklist Hizbullah's military wing, Aoun said: “Europe is being controlled by Israel.”
He hinted that the EU's “feeling of guilt” over the Holocaust has pushed it to “commit another mistake” by adding the military wing of Hizbullah to its list of terrorist organizations.
The EU's 28 foreign ministers reached the decision unanimously at their monthly meeting on Monday. The action came after prolonged diplomatic pressure from the United States, the Netherlands and Israel, which consider Hizbullah a terrorist organization.
On the security situation in the country, Aoun said: “The army is not a concierge” in the northern city of Tripoli.
“It should be there to control the situation and not to be murdered in an unclear mission,” he said.
“The government shouldn't distance itself from the incidents in Akkar, Tripoli, Arsal and Sidon,” he told reporters.
He said he urged Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati on several occasions not to steer himself clear of the incidents in the country.
“The army cannot be paralyzed,” he said while lamenting that the “abnormal situation is affecting the morale of the military.”
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