New Structure for Miqati’s Cabinet, Defense and Interior Ministries Portfolios Must Remain under President’s Authority

The daily An Nahar reported on Saturday that the latest government structure that was agreed upon called for granting Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun ten ministers, President Michel Suleiman and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat eleven, and the rest of the March 8 camp nine ministers.

The Interior Ministry portfolio would be granted to a figure agreed upon by all sides and who is not affiliated with any of the political powers.

The portfolio is likely to be given to Lebanon’s Ambassador to the Vatican Georges Khoury who used to be the head of army intelligence.

Circles who participated in the Doha agreement stated that the interior and defense ministries portfolios should create accord and not disputes among politicians.

They told As Safir in remarks published on Saturday: “The March 14 camp’s boycott of the new Cabinet does not mean that the circumstances surrounding the government formation have changed.”

“The constitution was clear in stipulating that the President is the head of the armed forces which include the army, Internal Security Forces, and the Higher Defense Council that encompasses the defense and interior ministers,” they continued.

“These facts alone mean that the interior and defense ministries portfolios should be under the President’s authority,” they stressed.

This affair should not be at the center of petty disputes, but the political powers should take into consideration the benefits of keeping the interior and defense portfolios under Suleiman’s jurisdiction, they stated.

“Appointing consensual interior and defense ministers should decrease the various attempts at targeting the military institution and the security forces,” the circles added.

“Furthermore, various elections are expected to take place soon in Lebanon, which require keeping the concerned institutions away from the political division,” they said.