Rivals Strike Deal on Appointments but Differences not Ruled out at Cabinet Session
Lebanon’s rival leaders gave their consent on Wednesday to have consensus at the cabinet session after an alleged deal on the appointment of top military officers.
The appointment of three officers at the Military Council has been one of the demands of the Free Patriotic Movement, which along with Hizbullah and the Tashnag Party have boycotted cabinet sessions.
Thursday’s session has 379 items on the agenda and does not include the appointments.
Defense Minister Samir Moqbel is expected to stir the issue from outside the agenda after the rival leaders agreed during the national dialogue session that took place in Ain el-Tineh on Wednesday to make the appointments.
Moqbel will propose three names for each of the three vacant posts.
Three military council posts, reserved for a Shiite, a Greek Orthodox and a Catholic, have been vacant for the past two years.
But sources said Thursday that several parties have warned they would not vote for the name proposed by FPM founder MP Michel Aoun for the Greek Orthodox post.
While the major parties represented in the cabinet have agreed on the names proposed for the Shiite and Catholic post, several sides continue to reject the name of Brig. Gen. Samir al-Hajj.
The Kataeb Party ministers and Minister Boutros Harb are likely to reject the appointments under the excuse that the names suggested do not meet the standards of the military institution.
“This is not something personal,” Kataeb chief MP Sami Gemayel was quoted as saying. “We will reject the appointments” because the longest-serving officers should be nominated for the posts.
“Sectarian power-sharing should not spill over from other institutions to the military,” Harb said.
G.K.
D.A.
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