Aoun Warns against 'Provocation', Rules Out Election of 'Non-representative President'

W460

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Friday warned his rivals against what he described as further “provocation,” stressing that the country's next president must be representative of the Christian community.

“Our protests are peaceful but if they continue to provoke us, our behavior might change,” said Aoun in an interview on al-Manar television.

“No one has explained to me the justifications of extending the terms of security chiefs and a lot of officers are capable of becoming commanders,” he said.

“The issue of lack of consensus on the appointment of a new army chief is fabricated, and we had asked them to propose five candidates and choose the best among them,” Aoun added.

Aoun's remarks come two days after he mobilized his supporters to hold street protests against what he terms as the violation of the rights of Christians and Defense Minister Samir Moqbel's decision to extend the terms of top three military officers, including the army commander.

The FPM has also accused Prime Minister Tammam Salam, who is close to al-Mustaqbal movement, of infringing on the rights of the Christian president in his absence. The movement's ministers want to amend the cabinet's working mechanism to have a say on its agenda.

Prior to Moqbel's move, Aoun had been reportedly lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of his son-in-law, Commando Regiment commander Chamel Roukoz, as army chief.

“I'm confident that we will win the battle that we are fighting and local and foreign forces are trying to target us,” Aoun told al-Manar.

“My demands have become clear and the other camp is showing insolence,” he noted.

The FPM leader underlined that from now on, “no non-representative president will be elected.”

“A consensual president is not a real president and we would accept such a settlement if the speaker and premier are also consensual,” he pointed out.

Aoun also warned that there will be a “tsunami” if the rivals do not heed his demands.

The country has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended on May 25, 2014. Political disputes and electoral rivalry have so far prevented lawmakers from electing a successor.

Aoun is one of the main presidential candidates.

Y.R.

Comments 29
Thumb ex-fpm 14 August 2015, 23:04

عون: النوايا سليمة مع جعجع ولم تزعجني زيارته الأخيرة الى السعودية عندما استقبله العاهل السعودي.

of course it bothers you otherwise you would not mention it;)

عون: سبب الهجوم على الحريري يعود إلى عدم إلتزامه بالإتفاقات، وفي القسم الأول من التفاوض معه قطع بسبب المداخلات الخارجية، وعذرنا من لم يكمل معنا، أما بالنسبة إلى الحوار على قيادة الجيش فكان هناك تفاهم تام،

عون: اعرف اكثر من ضابط في الجيش عنده القدرة لكي يكون في موقع قائد للجيش. وعدم وجود التوافق مصطنع ومن واجبات الحكومة هو التعيين لاننا مسؤولين عن المؤسسة. وطلبنا منهم ان يفتحوا خمس ملفات تابعة لأفضل ضباط الجيش وندرس تعيين واحدا منهم.

if there was a prior تفاهم with hariri then why are you saying you asked forوطلبنا منهم ان يفتحوا خمس ملفات تابعة لأفضل ضباط الجيش وندرس تعيين واحدا منهم.

Thumb ex-fpm 14 August 2015, 23:06

عون عن رفع شعارات استفزازية ضد "تيار المستقبل" تصفه بالدولة الاسلامية: أنا غير مسؤول عن كل خطايا العالم.

hahaha of course mustaqbal are responsible for these banners that were raised in your demonstration.

and he still wants to dialogue with "the ISIS emirate of lebanon";)

Thumb ex-fpm 14 August 2015, 23:08

عون: اعلم ماذا يعني شهداء وما هو شعور ان تحمل زميلك في السلاح على كتفيك لكي تنقذه.

very touching indeed!
You mean when you ran to the French embassy while your زميلك في السلاح was getting massacred by your only friend today "Syria"

Thumb canadianpaul 14 August 2015, 23:16

He didn't even stay to ask his battalions to stop fighting through military communications. Within 30 minutes, he was already in the French embassy, leaving his wife and daughters. He had to announce the surrender through Sawt Loubnan, as if his commanders are listening to the radio right on the front.

I want people to think of this for a minute before deifying this idiot.

Missing humble 15 August 2015, 02:10

Canadian:
Exact historical facts...this is exactly what happened...plus one other fact: the Caporal called French Ambassador Ala to get refuge and NOT Ala called the caporal.

Thumb ex-fpm 14 August 2015, 23:18

تيار “المستقبل” لا يقر بالآخر ويرفضه وهو الذي يدفعني الى التطرف
glad you now admit you are an extremist but it is mustaqbal's fault not yours.

Thumb canadianpaul 14 August 2015, 23:21

So many falsehoods and convoluted arguments crammed in one interview, it's not even funny.

Missing humble 15 August 2015, 02:06

If most MP's do not want to elect someone who is an agent to Iran, an ally to the Butcher and a mentally ill person....what has it got to do with Christian representation????
Are there no Christians who are more competent, more intelligent, more honest, more patriots, and more sane than this lousy caporal?

"Anybody, but NOT the caporal"!!!

Missing humble 15 August 2015, 02:14

Can anybody tell me which one single decision that was taken by the Caporal was a CORRECT DECISION?

Thumb -phoenix1 15 August 2015, 03:35

Poor Caporal Claoun, our Lebanese Don Quixote De La Mancha is again fighting against the windmills of his mind. The sick old f*rt creates the problems, then accuses M14 of it, then has the arrogance to say he's been provoked!! Ya Claoun, who is worried over you but you? Silly idiot, only getting worse with time, his madness and anger levels have reached maximum, with another kick in the teeth with 1200 partisans only, the sick lunatic demagogue must be talking to himself these days, seemingly everyone has abandoned him to his own self-made predicament.

Thumb liberty 15 August 2015, 04:23

Now on the anniversary of the greatest humiliation in our history, both aoun and nassrallah have to make a speech and talk about how they both single handedly destroyed this country (and still do) and took it back 100 years. I consider myself one of the lucky ones having been able to leave Lebanon as a student and live in a normal civilized country where people priorities are productivity, improvement, hobbies, savings, investments, travel, healthcare, and fun.

Thumb liberty 15 August 2015, 04:53

http://www.lebanese-forces.com/2015/08/15/terrorist-cell-in-kuwait-hezbollah/
أمن الدولة يعمم أسماء 3 إيرانيين على المنافذ.. المتهمون: نفتخر بـ”حزب الله” وتدربنا في لبنان

Thumb barrymore 15 August 2015, 08:27

أفادت معلومات لصحيفة “السفير”، استنادا الى مراجع واسعة الاطلاع، أن خطاب السيد حسن نصرالله، ومن ثم إطلالة العماد ميشال عون عبر شاشة “المنار”، يمكن أن يشكلا قوة دفع للحل وليس لأخذ البلد الى مشكلة جديدة، بدليل أن ثمة مخرجا كان يتم تداوله في الساعات الأخيرة، على نطاق ضيق جدا، ويقضي بترقية 12 ضابطا من رتبة عميد الى رتبة لواء (بينهم العميد شامل روكز)، فضلا عن قوننة التمديد للعماد جان قهوجي لمدة سنة في قيادة الجيش، وهما يحتاجان الى إقرارهما في مجلس الوزراء أولا ومجلس النواب ثانيا.

وفهم أن معظم “قوى 8 آذار” بالاضافة الى العماد عون مستعدة للسير بهذا الاقتراح، فضلا عن النائب وليد جنبلاط، على أن يعطي “تيار المستقبل” موافقته النهائية عليه قبل نهاية الأسبوع الحالي.

Thumb barrymore 15 August 2015, 08:28

وقال مرجع سياسي في “14 آذار” لـ”السفير”، ان الثغرة الوحيدة التي تواجه هذا الاقتراح تتمثل في وجود أكثر من 20 ضابطا يستحقون الترقية قبل شامل روكز، غير أن حسنته الأساس أنه يعيد تفعيل الحكومة ويفتح أبواب مجلس النواب”.

وأكد المرجع المقرب جدا من “تيار المستقبل” أن اقتراح رفع سن التقاعد للعسكريين لمدة ثلاث سنوات “قد سقط نهائيا لسببين، لأنه يهدد هرمية الجيش أولا وبسبب أكلافه المالية الكبيرة جدا ثانيا”.

Thumb barrymore 15 August 2015, 08:29

so it fair to promote Roukuz ahead of 20 other similarly ranked officers to satisfy aoun and by doing so our Christians rights are regained once the aoun family gets its members in government and army positions.

Missing humble 15 August 2015, 09:54

Christians rights = caporal and his family interests

Thumb barrymore 15 August 2015, 09:46

are you already awake flamethrower?

Default-user-icon PEACE (Guest) 15 August 2015, 12:09

@humble
Excuse me to correct your statement by saying "lots of Christian politicians are competent, intelligent, well educated, honest, and patriotic as compared to the caporal"
Indeed using the word more intelligent, more honest......than the caporal you give him a bit of credit.
The truth : he's very far from being honest courage or loyal to his country or religion.

Missing humble 15 August 2015, 13:34

Caporal has not done one right thing in 30 years.

Thumb beiruti 15 August 2015, 18:18

A consensual president is not a real president and we would accept such a settlement if the speaker and premier are also consensual,” he pointed out.
Aoun also warned that there will be a “tsunami” if the rivals do not heed his demands.

Now let me get this straight. Aoun will not submit his name to Parliament for election if other names have also been submitted because he wants to be the "Consensual President", that is, one elected unanimously.

Now he says that a consensual president is not a real president at all. Okay, I guess that means that he wants a vote, but that requires other candidates.

Thumb beiruti 15 August 2015, 18:18

Then his ally Nasrallah talks about "Dialogue" and that the Mustaqbel needs to talk to his ally Aoun in work out their differences. Then Nasrallah says, in the same speech, that only Aoun may become the next President and if his demands are not met then Hezbollah will add their people to Aoun's 70 demonstrators. So much for dialogue. And Aoun chimes in with his Tsunami comment that unless his demands are met, I suppose that means he will destroy Lebanon. How and why do you dialogue with that??

Thumb -phoenix1 15 August 2015, 18:24

Beiruti, Claoun is a nuttycase professor. His tsunami is a lab test gone awry, Aoun fatala 3ala toul.

Thumb lebnanfirst 15 August 2015, 19:15

The first is anchored in individualism. That each individual is endowed with inalienable rights and that any system of governance must respect and uphold that tenet regardless of religion, political affiliations, gender, creed or wealth. That the system of government be based on rotation of power whereby the majority should predominate and transparent elections by the people, or their representatives, shall be the mechanism employed to adjudicate differences in approaches to governance and acceptable social norms and morals.

The second is anchored in religious or other forms of collectivism. That a single chosen individual shall dictate what is acceptable politically and morally according to their own interpretation of religious or other dictums. Any and all differences in approaches to governance and acceptable social norms and morals are subject to the dictates of the One.

Thumb lebnanfirst 15 August 2015, 19:16

If flame's intent is to muddy the water as they say, one needs read no further through the comments below as it really won't make any difference.

As Justin pointed out, Tareq Yateem is not free.

That aside, our justice system is indeed in need of rectifying if not total restructuring on the human level. The laws are on the books but the implementation is skewed by feudal, political and sectarian considerations of which most of us are aware. Underlying all of that is a basic discord amongst us Lebanese; for there appears to be two schools of thought as to what basic philosophies shall underpin our state foundations.

The first, espoused by the vast majority of Christians (FPMr's included one hopes), Druzes and, post the Qournet Shahwan era, Sunnis. Perhaps now most Shiite followers of Amal as well. The second is espoused by Hizbullah and the vast majority of it's Shiite followers and others.

Thumb lebnanfirst 15 August 2015, 19:16

Though the second school of thought has historically proved capable at devising and employing workable systems that were efficient militarily, it ultimately failed at the social level. Humans are flexible creatures driven by incentive more so than dogma. Hitler's philosophy was defeated militarily while that of the Soviet Union imploded under its own weight.

Once the majority of Lebanese that espouse the first school of thought assert themselves without violence then we will be ready to tackle the deeper issues, such as that raised by flame above, successfully. I choose to believe that the vast majority of us share the first school of thought while differing about the means to achieve it.

Thumb lebnanfirst 15 August 2015, 19:18

True, we have an imperfect system and it's also true that we DO have a system. Rather than attempting to scrap it all, we should agree on working to change it from within because what's on the books is not the problem.

If we can agree on that, then lets adhere to the existing rules, no matter one's perception of how just they are, and elect a president then work from within to restructure the system. Only then will we be able to address the other grievances that plague our nation. The "my way or the highway" attitude and approach is perceived by the vast majority of us Lebanese as the rule of One. As such, it is rejected.

Thumb shab 15 August 2015, 19:49

More warnings.....really boring

Thumb -phoenix1 16 August 2015, 01:06

Shab, when the Claoun wants to fart he must warn, this is now the most he can do, the Claoun is done and over with.

Thumb shab 16 August 2015, 19:09

loool