Aoun Urges Suleiman, Salam to Respect Constitution: Neutral Govt. is Unconstitutional
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that he is open to a “fair and just” solution over the formation of a new government, saying that it should not be unconstitutional.
He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “A neutral government that is being proposed is unconstitutional.”
He therefore called on President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to respect the constitution.
“What does a neutral government even mean?” he wondered.
What is the point of the consultations with the president and premier-designate with the parliamentary blocs over the new government if it will be a neutral one? asked Aoun.
Suleiman and Salam's “privileges do not entitle them to deny the people of their right to vote” and deem who can and cannot run for a ministerial position, continued the FPM leader on demands that members of the new cabinet should not run in the parliamentary elections.
“How can confidence be granted to lawmakers and they are not even aware of several constitutional issues, such as a neutral government. Who will such a cabinet represent?” he wondered.
Aoun then denied media reports that the FPM had rejected keeping Marwan Charbel in the position of interior minister.
Commenting on Tuesday's meeting of the parliamentary subcommittee, the MP said: “Today's meeting does not represent parliament, but simply the members of the parties that are taking part in the talks.”
They are discussing parliamentary electoral laws, but not a single member of the subcommittee has made a draft law proposal of their own, he noted.
Some of the members rejected the Orthodox Gathering law, but they did not offer an alternative, he added.
“How can they demand the formation of a government that can oversee the parliamentary elections if they have not yet approved an electoral law?” he asked.
Salam has repeatedly said that his new government will be aimed at staging and overseeing the parliamentary elections.
The political powers have yet however to agree on an electoral law, while a parliamentary subcommittee met on Tuesday to set the stage for the resumption of discussions between rival lawmakers on the draft electoral law.
The premier-designate held a series of consultations last week with parliamentary blocs in order to listen to their proposals over a new cabinet.
The March 8 alliance has demanded the formation of a national unity cabinet, while the March 14 coalition has called for a neutral government whose members will not run in the elections.
11 years
partly because banima3roof formerly known as kisweransomethingorother likes to copy and paste every comment Aoun makes and then give an opposing argument to it. Instantly adding nearly 60 comments once FT and Roar decide to argue his argument.
11 years
thats because banima3roof formerly known as kisweransomethingorother likes to copy and paste every comment Aoun makes and then give an opposing argument to it. Instantly adding nearly about 60 comments once FT and Roar decide to argue his argument.
11 years
“What does a neutral government even mean?” I am not a supporter of any party but honestly, is there such a thing. Where do you find that type of government?
11 years
Wlak ya khayye kif unconstitutional? Kif who will it represent?
How about the interests of the people, how about a bunch of men and women who know what they are doing for once? Has that become such a foreign and absurd concept to the lebanese?
How about objectivity for once? Before taking political decisions, the cabinet will assess risk and reward and act accordingly!
This is the exact way of thinking that needs to be cut out from government if we want to go forward.
What's his alternative? M14 cabinet? He won't go for that. M8 cabinet? We just saw what the result was. A mixed cabinet? Why so we can spend the next 4 years not agreeing on anything and getting nothing done?
11 years
rudy isnt it amazing that you got thumbs down for speaking the truth and having an educated response/?
11 years
So people should read the entire article and not one point but only one point matters.
Mni7a roar
11 years
rudy lol and you wonder who votes for aoun? the roar is one!
11 years
Sorry roar but I'm sure you would agree the government isn't only there to make election laws and supervise the electoral process.
Otherwise we would only have a minister of elections. At the moment we only have a caretaker government that is limited in what they can do. And the things they do and need to process on a daily basis is not just the big issues we hear in the news.
Its the small stuff that keeps things going.
However while writing this comment, I realized HA ministers left the government paralysed for months when they withdrew and things didn't get any worse than usual.
That could only mean one of 2 things: either the government and the cabinet are generally useless, or we hit rock bottom and there is no way for things to get worse.
Either way, it sucks for us
11 years
Aoun: I call on President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to respect my constipation.
11 years
And that ladies and gentlemen is what we call a democracy!
But aoun seems to think of himself above all that, and that democracy means he has to approve it first, and then if he does, everyone else should or they are traitors. Otherwise its just a zionist plot
11 years
more like his family must be represented in the cabinet or no govt at all. because is bassil loses election again and he is not a minister, then what will he be? zibbal?
11 years
they never build any dams because NO politician can agree on that subject and each want wants to build it for his own electoral purposes...
remember before the civil war all the problems the chiites deputies had between themselves coz each one wanted to irrigate his land and not the other ones....
11 years
If the General could point to where in the constitution it says that a cabinet with neutral ministers is unconstitutional? Clearly he hasn't actually read the constitution, especially with the Orthodox Gathering Law. http://moulahazat.com/2013/01/27/a-closer-look-at-the-orthodox-gathering-law-part-i-why-its-unconstitutional/
11 years
I also would like the old senile general to show us where in the constitution does it show that a government can't be neutral. That's just the drugs talking.
Again, the hypocrisy of he and his allies is out there to see. Do as we say not as we do.
11 years
Agreed.
But what dams has bassil built? Why are they not more publicised (and this is a serious question, not trying to be sarcastic)
11 years
march 14 blocking? march 8 was in power by themselves and in prior mixed cabinets, march 8 and berri are the ones who had the energy ministry! once again wrong in your facts. but once again what did he achieve? renting a boat that it took over a year to come to lebanon is an achievement?
11 years
flamer yes he made lots of progress in costs especially when he gave out all them phone cards to his supporters during last elections! and the fact that internet and telephone costs going down, that is not an accomplishment of a minister but an issues of economics as prices are going down all over the world!
11 years
that has been their strategy since at least 2005. to cripple all public and governmental institutions and to prolong it unless they got their own way, and when they can no longer get their own way, then they take to the streets with their weapons.
11 years
too complex for aoun to understand. and interesting how flamer acts all intelligent but wont agree that aoun is wrong on this point! word biased comes to my mind.
11 years
ok i answer you. dams have been proposed and planned for years. even during the term of lahoud "the crook", it was proposed to build the shabrouh dam and other dams. but the energy ministry has always been under the control of berri and march 8. they had been stealing millions out of it every year so why would they agree to any dam projects? where are these multiple dams that bassil built during his tenure? if he did build any during his tenure, when were they planned and approved?
11 years
i recall bassil mentioning the great work of the cabinet and his ministry during his tenure. he stated that a day or two after the cabinet resigned. he himself never made one mention of the dams!
11 years
I don't get it is it time to say BS and claim it's fact? Where in the constitution does it say it's illegal to have neautral government? A political government is a fude ridden government that can not function. Government should always be of technocrats people expert in their fields with no political affiliation if you want ANYTHING done honestly and transparently.
11 years
And if someone says there is no such thing as neautral or independant what do you call Baroud? There are many like him out there that are sick of the political bickering and foreign intervention expert in all ministerial positions with resumes IN the field out there that can do Lebanon MUCH more good than all this son-in-law of that son of another and brother of another.
Enough with all you idiots hating each other and dissing each other and think about the country you live in for once. Syria/Iran/France/Saudi Arabia/USA...etc won't give you citizenship because your allegiance is with them you are stuck with the country you are born in.
11 years
Put your stupidity and blind tunnel vision aside and work on bettering your country not for the few but for ALL.
11 years
anonymetesxasusa, i know that you are educated and a reasonable person from all of your posts on here. but what do you mean by what sort of an excuse is this? a minister cannot just start projects on his own without the cabinet voting on it. it is very simple in that during the last cabinet, the majority was march 8 and they voted on their projects, while in the previous cabinets, nothing could get agreed on and the projects wouldnt have passed! so now hariri family is behind the generator mafia? what has aoun done from 2005 to 2011 to curtail the generator mafia? all hariris know is building bridges, roads and real estates? but isnt that what lebanon was in dire need of after the civil war? isnt that the only thing that is booming in lebanon, the real estate? rafiq hariri had numerous projects for lebanon but none and i repeat that none were executed because of the obstacles placed by march 8 and syrians.
11 years
we make this sounds so easy in our comments while we do not realize what was occurring in the cabinet.
11 years
why isnt aoun addressing the nearly 200 employees that gabi layoon hired on the day that the cabinet resigned. these 200 employees are government employees and entitled to benefits. these 200 employees are all affiliated with fpm, baath, ssnp, berri and hizbullah. but the sad part is that aoun is good at marketing himself. i will give him that. and in marketing himself, he chose 2 ministries to speak highly of? what about the other ministries?
11 years
anonymetexasusa, i am not trying to convince you of anything. i am just stating facts. i am tired of everyone saying march 8 is better or march 14 is better. they are all crooks and one should not be scared to point out the wrongs rather than to blindly follow the sheep. it is my whole point of why we need a neutral govt where they work on all the important projects that are in the interest of the country and no one else! it is no longer enough that a politician who steals less than the prior politician will satisfy our aspirations.
11 years
now lets speak of the energy ministry's website. it is an embarassment to use a country's website for political ends. look at his intro statement in which he attacks other politicians! look at the news article on it announcing that he won a slander lawsuit against charles ayoub. what does that have to do with the ministry's official web site? and then read the article regarding the dam. how it has been planned since the 1950s and how he even thanks president sulieman for also eing behind this dam... and it is extremely interesting how all of these projects are being started or announced after the resignation of the cabinet!
11 years
bassil is just trying to get the credit of what has been studied and planned before his arrival...and says "i did it!" like a little child he is....
11 years
yes studying and planning... millions spent by EU or ather countries but lebanese politicians just take most of the money and never implement a thing
11 years
وقال باسيل "اننا اعتدنا في لبنان ان الناس التي لا تدفع هي التي تستفيد، ومؤسسة مياه بيروت وجبل لبنان هي المؤسسة الوحيدة التي لديها وفر مالي بسبب أن الجباية جيدة، بينما نجد أن باقي المؤسسات مفلسة بشكل كامل".
what has he done about ensuring that hizbullah areas, where people dont appreciate paying for their electrical bills, do actually pay? we havent heard anything about that!
11 years
but yes bassil has been energy minister since 2009. and it took him how many years to announce his achievements? and they all begun to be announced once the cabinet has resigned?
11 years
and lets not forget that when oil prices has went up years ago, it was comrade junblat who brought up the issue of dams and selling water to the gulf countries in return for cheaper oil. so should bassil be the only person to get credit?
but talk in generalities is easy without more details. here was bassil's plan in 2010. http://www.energyandwater.gov.lb/adminpages/page/DownloadPageFile.asp?PageFile_ID=94
he proposed that lebanon would have total installed capacity of 4,000 MW by 2014. how close are we to the 4,000 MW of installed capacity?
11 years
anonymetexasusa
from 2009 to 2013, bassil could have built several power plants that would supply long term electrical solutions and generate considerable amount of MW unlike the boats which produce too little of MW and are a temporary fix while the existing plants are renovated. so why havent we built the long term plants in 4 years and bypassed the boats?
11 years
do you have any doubt he will make a second 180 turn? once a sellout always a sellout. It's not a matter of if but a matter of when.
11 years
lolll
11 years
Le petit général est complètement déglingué.
11 years
And noone knows that FT and Myaw the roar is the same ***changing screen .Noooo
11 years
Sho ya Mon jeneral sheer sandet daher sho ra7 ye3mel bi safaret s3udiyi ma3abena wehabiyi wa salafiyi halla2 serto as7ab kkkkkkkkkkk
11 years
Ejetkon lawemer men Iran lwade3 mo7rej mablomkon heda terikh 3awenkon darbi 3alhefer wa darbi 3almsmar ma3 lwaef sahebkon bashura bi ekher eyyemo wennto serto metel holafa2kon metalbi wala galbi ya7aef 3arjal iran betso2kon bel rasan ento mashi adat bas ?bas adat rkhisa yaharam
11 years
this idiot belong in a mental hospital.
11 years
Aoun , it good to see people like " Banthepoof" & "M2 fingers"ie M 11, making such comments . It shows the difference between reality & people that are daydreaming . I like it , it tells me a big difference between idiots from intelligence . Now we can classify & distinguish such Ass...holes !!!!!! Aoun the General ! You are on par as Mcather or Nepoleon , keep at it screw these bastards of son of bitches ! You make them feel as traitors of Lebanon ! Long live the Lebanese and its people especially the Armed forces !!! Viva Aoun , Viva Lebanon !!!!!!!!
11 years
Mouallek for better exposure write in English. If French suites you better that's fine , but there are 99% out there that have English as their second language . I'm sure you are intelligent enough if you know French then you should be able to write in English, it's 2013 not 1945!! Bonjour..
11 years
Exposure does not interest me. When i make a comment I look only to express my feelings and beliefs.
11 years
Anyway my comments are more than often deleted by Naharnet.
11 years
Someone(s) is/are reporting you. Aint no coincidence!
Topace shakur, mouallek is an artist. Anything he publishes is art éphémère monsieur.
Salutations!
11 years
The constitution does not specify that nominees for Ministerships must be Deputies or must not be Deputies of Parliament. Aoun seems to imply that a Council of Ministers chosen among neutral personalities, that is, non members of Parliament would be unconstitutional.
So why did he press for Gebran Bassil, his son-in-law to be a minister, when Bassil was not an elected Deputy? Or is standard for constitutional measures not the constitution, but Aoun's mind on Tuesdays when he speaks this babble?
1 hour after his press conference, only 3 comments by one person: this shows the lack of interest in anything this guy says :) he has lost all credibility and is not worth commenting on what he says.