MP Says FPM Won't Engage in Any Bargain

MP Alain Aoun of the Free Patriotic Movement-led Strong Lebanon bloc has stressed that the FPM will not engage in “any deals or bargains,” such as attending a parliamentary session for referring the accused ministers in the port case to the Higher Council for Trial of Ministers and Presidents in return for the resumption of Cabinet sessions.

“As for the condition that the (Shiite) duo is placing to return to Cabinet, its key is in the hands of the judiciary or the constitution, and we’re not an obstacle in the way of any of them,” Aoun said in an interview with the al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper published Sunday.

“Let the Higher Judicial Council shoulder its responsibility by settling the debate over jurisdiction as to the trial of presidents and ministers, and let everyone respect its decision,” the lawmaker added.

Asked about reports suggesting that parliament’s term might be extended in a bargain involving the extension of President Michel Aoun’s term, the MP emphasized that “extension deals are only present in the imaginations of some people.”