Communications have intensified to prepare the political atmosphere ahead of the Cabinet meeting scheduled for today, Tuesday, aiming to dismantle the objections delaying the appointment of a Chief of Staff. This is based on the insistence of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, who cannot travel abroad with his position vacant, in response to Arab and Western calls looking to provide all forms of support to the military institution amid the severe circumstances Lebanon is facing and the non-exceptional situation on the northern front with the escalation of confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel.
The "Middle East" learned that the communications took place before the Cabinet meeting, which was supposed to convene last Friday but was postponed to Tuesday morning. They continued at a high pace amid confirmed understanding that the political path for appointing a Chief of Staff is not clear, leading to the decision to defer the matter to allow the legislative council session, which took place on the same day, to approve a draft law aimed at raising the retirement age for security and military leaders who perform their duties either in their own right, by proxy, or by substitution, and hold the rank of General or Major General.
In this context, a prominent minister, who preferred to remain unnamed, revealed to the "Middle East" that the postponement of the Cabinet meeting was not due to retired military personnel blocking some roads leading to the Presidential Palace to prevent ministers from reaching the session, but for political reasons that justified its postponement, as there was an impossibility to appoint a Chief of Staff due to the opposition of several ministers, which prevented securing the two-thirds quorum required for the session.
The prominent minister highlighted that one of the reasons for postponing the meeting was that caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati also chose to replace the proposed six-month postponement of General Aoun's retirement with leaving this task to the parliament to avoid legal challenges to the retirement decision before the State Council, as it involves a legal violation because Defense Minister Major General Maurice Slim refuses to sign the request for postponing his retirement, which falls under his authority.
He emphasized that the delay in appointing a Chief of Staff was not only due to the objection from former MP Sleiman Frangieh, head of the "Mourada" party, under the pretext that he does not support the appointment in the absence of the president, but also because some preferred to wait until after the extension of the Army Commander in the parliamentary session to block the way, even as a precaution, against those attempting to disrupt the parliamentary quorum on the grounds that there is no rush to extend his term as long as the government has initiated the appointment of a Chief of Staff to act in his stead during the vacancy in the command of the army.
The prominent minister also revealed that Mikati was not enthusiastic about convening the Cabinet unless it led to the extension of Major General Imad Othman's term as the head of Internal Security Forces, under the pretext that he cannot bear the backlash from some Sunni MPs who might refrain from participating in the parliamentary session unless it is decided in parliament that he will be included in the extension.
He stated that the "Free Patriotic Movement" had nothing to do with the postponement of the Cabinet meeting, as its head, MP Gibran Bassil, had been informed the night before the parliament convened by Hezbollah's coordination and relation official, Wafiq Safa, that what was written has been finalized, and the extension of security leaders has been assured, and that the party's MPs will exit the session once it concludes to approve the proposed law in this regard.
He noted that the party confirmed to Bassil that it was not inclined to interfere to disrupt the session, as it did not wish to engage in political confrontation with the Maronite Church and, through it, the international community that pressured for the extension of the Army Commander to prevent a vacancy in the military institution. He stated that he was unaware of reports suggesting that former President Michel Aoun threatened the party with ending the alliance if the legislative session resulted in delaying his retirement.
Thus, although Frangieh Sr. objected, as reportedly stated, to the appointment of a Chief of Staff in the absence of the president, the other aspect of his objection, according to the prominent minister, pertains to his frustration with the former head of the "Progressive Socialist Party" Walid Jumblatt and his son Taymour, head of the "Democratic Gathering," for not communicating with him, unlike their communication with Bassil, who reversed his commitment to approve the appointment of Brigadier General Hassan Aouda as Chief of Staff, conditioning his appointment on their refusal to extend General Aoun's term and appointing someone to succeed him.
The prominent minister confirmed that the party expressed understanding towards its ally Frangieh, advising the need for communication with him. He emphasized that it was not accurate to say their objection served their ally, former MP Talal Arslan, and that both Jumblatt Sr. and his son were informed of Frangieh's grievances, prompting them to engage in efforts to convince him to modify his position, especially since the appointment of the Chief of Staff was discussed in Frangieh’s meeting with General Aoun.
He considered that their meeting was a response to the efforts made by several mutual friends, leading to the end of their estrangement and breaking the ice, moving towards normalizing their relationship as leading candidates for the presidency. He stated that it is too early to treat what resulted from the parliamentary session as a presidential referendum favoring the Army Commander, as members of the resistance camp were among those who voted on the proposed law aimed at extending the terms of security and military leaders.
Therefore, the appointment of a Chief of Staff in the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday remains pending, depending on the outcomes of communications initiated by Jumblatt Jr. with Frangieh Jr., currently followed by MP Wael Abou Faour in his contact with MP Toni Frangieh and former Minister Youssef Saadeh, coinciding with the involvement of Speaker Nabih Berri by assigning MP Ali Hassan Khalil to communicate with the leader of the "Mourada" party and his son, and the leadership of the "Democratic Gathering," with Prime Minister Mikati joining to secure the quorum for today's government session in an attempt to finalize the appointment of Brigadier General Aouda as Chief of Staff with the support of two-thirds of the ministers.
While some expect the appointment to be postponed to a later session to allow for broader communications to mature the favorable conditions for his appointment, the channels of communication between MPs Frangieh and Jumblatt remain open, and they could meet at any moment. Thus, some dismiss any connection of Frangieh's father’s objection to the "Democratic Gathering's" refraining from nominating him for the presidency.
