The extension of the Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, tops the agenda of the current political phase, which is witnessing division between his supporters and opponents, with the Lebanese Forces Party’s bloc of representatives taking the initiative to prepare an expedited law proposal to extend his discharge from military service. It was met with objection by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, saying: In front of his visitors: “I know what I have to do, and no one tells me what he wants; Because legislation is not subject to discretion or double standards, they are with legislation at times they want, and against it at times they do not want, and there is no date yet for the session or agenda for its agenda, and in any case legislation will not be completed without the request.”
Although President Berri did not specify his position on the extension of General Aoun, he had previously affirmed, during his reception of the members of the “Renewal” bloc, that the military and security institutions for him are “sacred,” and that it is not possible, in light of the current circumstances that Lebanon is going through, to He allows a void or vacancy to be created without elaborating on his position.
In this context, the representatives are dealing with Speaker Berri’s reaction to the proposal of the “Forces” bloc of representatives from the perspective of his refusal to confiscate his powers to determine the session’s agenda in agreement with the members of the Council’s office, and what his position would be if it came from a parliamentary team that was sensitive to it due to its refusal to participate in legislative sessions. necessity.
Representatives in the opposition say that there is no justification for the initiative of their colleagues in the “Strong Republic” bloc to announce their intention to prepare a law proposal requiring the extension of General Aoun, who will be referred for retirement on the tenth of next January, without coordination with the parliamentary blocs belonging to the opposition, in addition to To the “Democratic Meeting” bloc and the independent and change representatives.
Opposition representatives confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that they had advised their colleagues in the “Strong Republic” bloc of the need to be patient and not rush in preparing their proposal. Because there is a need to make contacts that are not limited to the opposition, and could include representatives belonging to the Sunni sect who are positioned halfway between the loyalists and the opposition, especially since they do not object to the extension for General Aoun, and they stipulate that the extension extend to the Director General of the Internal Security Forces, Major General Imad Othman, who He will retire next May.
They point out that there is a possibility of preparing a law proposal requiring an extension for the leaders of the security services, or another proposal that stipulates raising the retirement age for all workers in the security and military services for a period of one year, provided that it includes all ranks from the lowest to the highest.
The representatives of the “Strong Republic” bloc say that there is no justification for rushing to prepare the law proposal, as long as there is no problem in replacing it with another proposal that enjoys broad parliamentary support. They reveal that the extension of General Aoun extends beyond the scope of the countries concerned with the stability of Lebanon, and this is what Representatives feel it in their meetings with Arab and Western ambassadors whose only concern is preserving the military institution and civil peace, and they praise Aoun’s competence in managing the military institution and neutralizing it from political conflicts.
The question remains: Where do the Shiite duo stand regarding the extension of General Aoun, as long as he is resorting to silence, and nothing has been issued by him to suggest so far that he opposes extending it, except for what the former president of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, was informed of by the liaison and coordination officer in Hezbollah. » Wafiq Safa, that the party is not with Bassil’s “crowding”, in reference to the position of the latter, who leads the team opposing the army commander remaining in his position?
The message that Safa conveyed to Jumblatt was not limited to informing him, on behalf of Bassil, of his refusal to extend the extension to General Aoun, but rather to informing him of the position of the party that stands in solidarity with Bassil and that it is not about to “push him” into a corner, while President Berri keeps the secret word, and this is what explains until now the failure to… His involvement in the controversy surrounding Aoun’s extension, and he prefers to remain among the observers in order to have his say at the appropriate time. As it is the final word, especially if he responds to the opposition collectively by calling for a session in which it is left to decide the position on the extension.
Therefore, it seems so far that there is no problem in appointing a new Chief of Staff, and it is likely that the choice will fall on Brigadier General Hassan Odeh, as he is the most senior among the Druze officers, provided that his appointment is accompanied by the appointment of two officers for the Administration and the General Inspectorate, allowing the Military Council to resume its meetings.
Accordingly, could appointing a Chief of Staff be an alternative to extending General Aoun’s term, or appointing a successor to head the military establishment? Because the mere issuance of a batch of military appointments by the Council of Ministers overturns Bassil’s insistence on refusing to appoint the Army Commander in the absence of the President of the Republic.
How will the Christian street react to the appointment of a Druze at the head of the military institution, and a Shiite on behalf of the Governor of the Bank of Lebanon, in addition to the caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati standing at the head of the procedural authority in light of the continued vacancy in the Presidency of the Republic, with no reason looming on the horizon? Are you optimistic that the presidential vacuum will not be long? This is what lies in Jumblatt Sr.’s call for an extension to General Aoun to block the tendency of some to ride the waves of sectarian incitement.
The extension of General Aoun enters political tensions in which the countries of the region participate, and remains under the roof of a tug of war between his supporters and opponents, until the opposition takes the initiative to unify its word by preparing an alternative law proposal to the proposal submitted by the “Forces” Party bloc, and it enjoys the broadest parliamentary support that is not limited to the opposition and “Democratic Meeting.”
2023-11-01 15:55:04
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