Miqati Rejects to Hold Cabinet Session, Says MPs Should Extend Qahwaji's Term to Avoid Vacancy
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed that his resigned cabinet will not convene to appoint a new Army commander, pointing out that the parliament has to hold a session to extend the tenure of the current army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji.
“We are not in a condition that allows us to agree on a new army commander,” Miqati said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper on Thursday.
He noted that the parliament has to end the dispute over the matter by holding a session to prevent any vacancies in the military institution.
“The cabinet will only convene if the President (Michel Suleiman) and I found it necessary,” Miqati stated.
The caretaker premier insisted that his government will not attend a parliamentary session unless its agenda is exclusive and will only discuss specific issues.
“I am only carrying out the constitution and respecting my jurisdictions. I will not compromise,” Miqati said.
The PM expressed concern over the security situation in the country, which is linked to the political instability, however he noted that the situation is still under control.
Miqati praised Speaker Nabih Berri's recent stance that the March 8 is no longer unified and its previous demands to obtain veto power in the cabinet are dropped in light of the differences that emerged among the alliance's members.
“The solution to the cabinet formation process must be from within,” he told al-Akhbar.
The ties between the March 8 alliance has deteriorated after disputed emerged over extending the parliament's term and Qahwaji's tenure and on the role of the constitutional council.
Qahwaji's term ends this September when he turns 60, the maximum age for the post of the army commander.
The extension, in addition to several other draft-laws, has been put on the agenda of a three-day parliamentary session that Berri has called for on July 16.
But Miqati and the March 14 alliance stand firm on boycotting it over their claim that holding such a session with a resigned government was unconstitutional.
Salam is seeking to form a cabinet divided equally between the Lebanese foes and the centrists and rejects to grant the veto power to any party.
Not even with all the money that Miqati has can he be cured of the genetic mutation known as Sannis Lunaticus Berserki that affects all Sannis rich or poor. The best that he can do is go on living his life as abnormally as possible as a Sanni lunatic until he becomes dust.