The government quickly managed to resolve the dispute between Minister of Defense Maurice Sleem and Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, which extended to the issue of the Military Academy admission process. In less than ten days following the last session, Prime Minister Najib Mikati called the council to a meeting scheduled for tomorrow, with an agenda limited to a single item discussing the request from the Minister of Defense for approval to conduct an additional examination to appoint 82 cadet officers, due to the military and other security forces' need for additional personnel beyond the 118 successful candidates from the recent exam.
It has become clear that the political forces present in the cabinet are moving toward approving the Minister of Defense's request based on several considerations, including a letter received last week from the Army Commander aligning with this goal. The additional examination is supposed to be conducted as quickly as possible, allowing the successful candidates to join the 118 successful candidates in the Military Academy simultaneously.
A government source told "Al-Jumhuriya" that this solution to the ongoing crisis between the Minister of Defense and the Army Commander was worked on after the last cabinet session. Minister of Culture Mohammad Wissam Al-Murtada, appointed by the council and a friend of both parties, listened to both sides’ viewpoints. While Sleem insisted on raising the number to 173 cadet officers, the Army Commander refused to admit candidates with inadequate scores. Al-Murtada proposed opening a new round of admissions sufficient to meet the needs, leading to a quiet agreement between the parties to open the new cycle that would allow newly graduates to apply.
The source confirmed that Berri and Mikati were pleased with this solution and recommended its swift implementation to maintain stability within the military institution.
**Doubt Regarding Quorum**
However, ministerial sources expressed skepticism to "Al-Jumhuriya" about the possibility of achieving a legal quorum for the cabinet session if Minister of State for Displaced Affairs Issam Sharafeddine follows through on his threat to boycott cabinet meetings. This concern parallels the possibility of the Minister of Defense not attending, as he is adamant about not participating in any cabinet session for constitutional reasons, asserting that his position is unlikely to change regardless of any emergency or exceptional circumstances.
Nevertheless, sources close to the Prime Minister stated to "Al-Jumhuriya" that he has not been informed of such a decision and does not believe anything of the sort will occur, emphasizing that the session is very important and the Prime Minister would not have called it without ensuring the legal quorum could be met. There is no conviction that the time is right for a decision of this type, as it is supported by both close and slightly more distant partisan referents that ensure adequate guidance for carrying out pressing cabinet decisions.
The sources added that tomorrow's session leaves no room for jokes or abnormal waves; it is a very serious and critical meeting that depends on resolving an issue as significant as the future of the officer cadets at the Military Academy. It is clear that it aims to translate the agreement reached regarding the recruitment of cadet officers into the military academy, according to the content of the Minister of Defense's letter requesting an additional cycle to increase the number of cadets to 200, allowing them all to be gathered in one cycle by the fall, as agreed between the Minister of Defense and the Army Commander, according to "Al-Jumhuriya."
