FPM Ministers Expected to Boycott Cabinet Session over Military Appointments
Ministers Elias Bou Saab and Jebran Bassil of the Free Patriotic Movement are inclined to boycott Thursday's cabinet session in protest at term extensions for military and security chiefs, in a move that is meant to be a “warning” to the government, a media report said on Monday.
“What happened during last week's cabinet session paved the way for irregularity in the work of the government and accordingly the ministers of education and foreign affairs are inclined to boycott Thursday's cabinet session,” a Change and Reform bloc source told An Nahar newspaper.
The minister of the Tashnag Party is “likely” to join his two allies in their move, the source added, noting that a final decision in this regard would be taken during the bloc's meeting on Tuesday.
“This step is not a suspension of our participation in the government or a resignation but rather a warning to everyone,” the source said, adding that the FPM would escalate its moves gradually.
“It is an occasion to say that we exist and that regaining the (Christian) role begins by regaining the role of the institutions in which we are partners,” the source went on to say.
And while refusing to specify the nature of the escalatory moves, the source stressed that “any popular protest would be aimed at allowing people to be the masters of their decision and according to their own timing.”
“After postponing the retirement of the secretary general of the Higher Defense Council and the indications that the presidential election has been postponed indefinitely, it is normal to witness gradual escalation ahead of the September 5 dialogue session and the September 7 presidential vote session,” the source added.
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