AMAL Says Seniority Row 'Doesn't Eliminate' Alliance with FPM

Differences between the AMAL Movement, of Speaker Nabih Berri, and the Free Patriotic Movement, of President Michel Aoun, over the signing of a seniority decree promoting a number of officers “do not annul the possibility of striking an alliance with the FPM,” al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday.

The daily quoted AMAL sources who said: “The battle over seniority decree between the President and Speaker is one thing, while the electoral alliance is another. The possibility of striking a coalition with the FPM is not rejected in principle, but it is however subject to calculations of profit and loss.”

AMAL Movement has declared an “inseparable alliance” with Hizbullah in the country's upcoming parliamentary election set for May 6. It said they should be looked at as “one entity,” for “preserving the interests of both parties, for the future.”

During an AMAL meeting Berri announced that anyone wishing to join AMAL-Hizbulah alliance should consult with both parties, he said: “Anyone wishing to speak with me about an alliance should first talk to Hizbullah. And, anyone wishing to speak with Hizbullah, must first come to me,” Berri had announced.

The Aoun-Berri spat broke out after the president and the premier signed a decree granting one-year seniority to a number of officers. Berri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil have insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature.

Aoun and his aides have argued that the decree did not require Khalil's signature because it did not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against.

Ain el-Tineh sources have meanwhile warned that the decree would tip sectarian balance in favor of Christians in the army's highest echelons.

The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy when Syrian forces ousted Aoun’s military government from Baabda in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.