Cabinet fails to convene due to lack of quorum

The caretaker cabinet failed to convene Tuesday, due to a lack of quorum and a ministerial meeting at the Grand Serail replaced the cancelled session.

The session was postpone to Monday.

Unconfirmed reports claimed that the session was going to discuss postponing the army chief retirement for a year, but Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper quoted Tuesday confirmed ministerial sources as saying that the discussion of the army chief's term extension on Tuesday's session was unlikely, due to the lack of political consensus.

Caretaker Prime Minister Nahib Mikati reportedly said during the side meeting with the ministers that the extension of the term of the Army chief needs consensus, and cannot happen through a confrontational approach.

Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun's retirement in January would add another gap to crisis-hit Lebanon's withering and paralyzed institutions.

The tiny Mediterranean country has been without a president, while its government has been running in a limited caretaker capacity. Lebanon has also been without a top spy chief to head its General Security Directorate since March, and without a central bank governor.