It appears that the Cabinet session held yesterday at the Grand Serail will mark the conclusion of governmental meetings for the current year, which will end in less than two weeks. Meanwhile, the parliamentary session last Friday, which notably included the extension of the term of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and the leaders of security agencies, marked the last for the year as well. This means that the country is officially returning, both politically and administratively, to a state of political stagnation, paralyzing paralysis, and blatant incapacity to overcome the accumulated deadlock in the political and presidential crisis, the primary issue facing the nation since the presidential vacuum began. As a result, looking ahead to the last days of the year and trying to foresee what is to come in the new year is exceedingly burdensome due to the numerous weights, dangers, and challenges facing the country.
Thus, informed diplomatic circles considered, according to the newspaper Annahar, that the official and political Lebanese apparatus dealt with a shameful lightness regarding the negative diplomatic development represented by French President Emmanuel Macron's last-minute decision to forgo visiting Lebanon on the eve of Christmas, in favor of Jordan, amid a set of reasons that the relevant parties did not bother to inquire about or attempt to contain, contenting themselves with one justification: the deteriorating situation in the south.
They stated that despite the ambiguity surrounding the developments in the south and the positions of countries on the matter, cancelling Macron's visit signified a shift beyond the south to the reality of Lebanon's deteriorating international standing, amid a near-total absence of any internal initiatives or efforts to address the presidential crisis, thus reinforcing the reality of surrendering to what is happening in the southern regions, where the state is entirely absent, serving merely as a witness.
In any case, the Cabinet session yesterday marked the conclusion of the process of approving a law to extend the terms of the Army Commander and security leaders for one year. The 19 ministers present at the session approved the government’s ratification of the extension law, which Prime Minister Najib Mikati is to sign in his capacity as president of the government and on behalf of the president, for publishing in the official gazette in accordance with legal procedures.
Nevertheless, the repercussions of the extension continued following the parliament’s vote on the extension law, as the head of the "Free Patriotic Movement," MP Gebran Bassil, and Defense Minister Maurice Slim received a heavy blow following the extension of the Army Commander’s term. This blow came from the Court of Audit, which issued a report concerning several reviews submitted to it by the Defense Minister regarding the Qatari grant for the army, military shoe purchases, and equipment deals, accusing the Army Commander of serious legal violations, the most significant of which was bypassing the government and the concerned ministerial and supervisory entities in these files. In response, the Army Commander rebutted and clarified the implications of these accusations in front of the Court of Audit. The court issued its report exonerating General Aoun of all the accusations leveled against him, confirming that he did not violate any laws in this regard.
This development coincided with a new round of tension between the Grand Serail and Defense Minister Maurice Slim concerning military appointments. During the Cabinet session yesterday, Mikati briefed ministers on the details of a letter he sent to the Defense Minister and, after reading the letter, one of the ministers suggested a direct call between Mikati and Slim. Mikati responded that "the Presidency of the Government is not a stick for breaking," and at the moment Minister Maurice Slim raised his voice upon his arrival at the Grand Serail, he considered that the engagement would be formal through letters.
Minister of Information Ziad Makari did not deny this incident after the session, although he tried to downplay it, stating, "There was no disagreement. There is a constant discussion happening in the Cabinet, and the letter the Prime Minister sent to the Defense Minister was leaked to the media, as was the Minister’s response to President Mikati. What happened was within the proper protocols, and the Prime Minister sent a letter to the Defense Minister requesting the handling of the topic of appointing the Chief of Staff and two brigadiers along with this appointment in the Military Council. The Defense Minister's response was clear and unequivocal, that we will wait for the decision from the Cabinet to approve the laws concerning the extension of the ranks of General and Brigadier before proceeding accordingly."
Regarding the truth of what Mikati said about the communication being formal between him and the Defense Minister, Makari stated: "Yes, the Prime Minister said that the communication between him and the Defense Minister will be official, and there is no problem in this matter."
In the evening, the Defense Minister issued a statement reiterating his readiness to propose names to fill vacancies in the institutions of the Ministry of National Defense, also emphasizing that he will not take any steps in this regard unless they are consensus-based, as he will not be a partner in entrenching any division in the country concerning the institutions of the Ministry of National Defense, as unfortunately occurred days ago.
In the meantime, a delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party, including MP Wael Abu Faour and the party's president advisor Hossam Harb, visited MP Tony Franjieh’s house in the afternoon to discuss the Chief of Staff position and the completion of appointments in the Military Council. Information from the meeting indicated that an agreement was reached, which Deputy Taymour Jumblatt would later announce in Bnechii regarding the appointment of Brigadier Hossam Auda as Chief of Staff.
