FPM Says to Boycott Cabinet as 'Warning', Cautions against 'System Crisis'

Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced Tuesday that the FPM has decided to boycott Thursday's cabinet session as a “warning message,” cautioning that the country might be plunged into a political “system crisis” if the other parties do not heed the movement's demands.

“We have decided to boycott Thursday's cabinet session in order to send a warning message aimed at putting an end to the violation of the law,” said Bassil after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabieh.

It was not immediately clear if the minister of the Tashnag Party -- which is part of the bloc -- would join Bassil and Education Minister Elias Bou Saab in their boycott.

“The issue has to do with respecting the National Pact in the government's meetings. Will it convene without us? Will it convene in the absence of the Christian forces?” Bassil added, highlighting the fact that the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party are not represented in the cabinet.

“They are preventing the election of a president in a manner that respects the National Pact and they are blocking the approval of an electoral law that respects the National Pact, so are they also seeking a government that is in violation of the National Pact?” Bassil asked.

The 1943 National Pact is an unwritten agreement that distributed power among the country's religious communities and set the foundations of modern Lebanon as a multi-confessional state.

“In light of the answers of the prime minister and the government's components, we could face a system crisis after Thursday's session, although we are defending the political system through demanding its proper implementation,” Bassil warned.

“Will our partners in the country accept a government that governs in the absence of Christians? Without all Lebanese components, Lebanon itself is absent and as a movement, we are always ready to take to the streets to defend dignity,” he added.

The FPM's decision is linked to the thorny issue of military appointments.

Last week, Defense Minister Samir Moqbel postponed the retirement of Higher Defense Council chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir after no consensus was reached over three candidates that he had proposed, angering the FPM which says that it opposes term extensions for all senior officers.

The movement fears that the extension of Kheir's term could pave the way for a new extension of the tenure of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji next month.

Qahwaji's retirement had been postponed in September 2013 and his term was instead extended for two years.