Aoun Says Won't Accept to be Excluded from Cabinet: Dispute with Hizbullah is over 'Building the State'
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday stressed that he will not accept to be excluded from the new cabinet, noting that his dispute with Hizbullah is over “the issue of building the state.”
“There is an attempt to form a cabinet without taking the views of others into consideration, which makes it a de facto cabinet,” Aoun said in an interview on his movement's mouthpiece OTV.
“A national unity cabinet is usually formed when there is a national crisis. Amid this crisis, should we gather people or divide them?” he said.
He revealed that he is not in contact with President Michel Suleiman over the cabinet formation process.
“I'm not in a conflict with anyone and there are two parties to the conflict: al-Mustaqbal and Hizbullah, while the conflict arena is Syria,” said Aoun.
Asked about the FPM's representation in the new cabinet, Aoun said: “All the officials who are in power cannot guarantee your rights if you are not represented in the cabinet.”
“I will not accept to be outside power while I'm in Lebanon and if you want to eliminate me, you have to tell me the reason,” he added.
Aoun noted that any understanding that does not happen according to “the principles of the constitution and the country's applicable laws” would be a "satanic alliance."
He stressed that “Hizbullah is an essential component of the Lebanese society and it cannot be excluded” from the new cabinet, adding that Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's share “must be part of al-Mustaqbal's share in the government.”
Aoun reiterated that the representation of political forces in cabinet must be proportional to their parliamentary weight, noting that Najib Miqati's cabinet “was not one-sided, as the president, MP (Walid) Jumblat and PM Miqati were the other team” in the government.
Commenting on his relation with Hizbullah, Aoun said: “Our dispute with Hizbullah is over the issue of building the state which was mentioned in Article 4 of the memorandum of understanding.”
“I will continue the reform plan on my own,” Aoun said, adding that there is no disagreement over the “strategic” issues.
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