BEIRUT: A Cabinet draft law to raise the retirement age of senior officers in the Army and the Internal Security Forces is being held up due to political differences among the major parties, ministerial sources said Monday.
This comes despite confirmation by Prime Minister Tammam Salam during a meeting with visitors at his residence in Moseitbeh Sunday that he would address public administration appointments and draft laws relating to filling vacant posts in security and military institutions.
Defense Minister Samir Moqbel had presented the draft law to raise the retirement age of senior Army and ISF officers to the Cabinet’s Secretariat General two months ago, but the Cabinet has yet to discuss the issue.
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, who has three ministers in the 24-member Cabinet, opposes raising the retirement age, while Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi, who retires Sept. 23, also has reservations about the draft law, the sources said.
They added that the Future Movement may also oppose the draft law because it wants a successor appointed as soon as possible for Maj. Gen. Mohammad Khair, the secretary general of the Higher Defense Council, rather than allowing him to extend his term. Khair, who also heads the state-run Higher Relief Committee, plans to retire next month.
The post is reserved for a Sunni security official, which means the Future Movement retains a say in the matter.
Another major obstacle facing the bid to raise the retirement age in the military and police corps is that some political parties are demanding that the draft law should cover all state employees, including civilians in the public sector, the sources said. But such a step, they added, would incur a huge amount of money on the cash-strapped Treasury.
Under the proposed draft law, the retirement age of the Army commander would be raised from 60 to 63 years, a major general from 59 to 61 years, a brigadier from 58 to 61 years and a colonel from 56 to 59 years.
In addition to Khair’s retirement in February, Army Intelligence chief Brig. Edmond Fadel retires March 20, Police Chief Brig. Elias Saade on May 22, ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous on June 5, and Army Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Walid Salman on Aug. 7.
But even if the draft law is passed by the Cabinet, it cannot be approved by Parliament before the end of February because the legislature needs a decree, usually signed by the president, to open an extraordinary session.
Following Parliament’s repeated failure since May 2014 to elect a new president, the Cabinet, in addition exercising its executive powers, has also assumed the president’s prerogatives.
It has adopted a mechanism under which all decisions should be made unanimously and decrees signed by all 24 ministers.
The mechanism has significantly reduced the productivity of Salam’s government, which has been unable to make decisions on crucial issues over the past few months due to internal disagreements.
Amid opposition by the three Kataeb ministers to any Parliament activity before the election of a president and questions about the Cabinet’s ability to issue a decree opening an extraordinary session for Parliament, the draft law to raise the retirement age in the military and police sectors could remain in limbo until a new president is elected or an extraordinary parliamentary session is opened whereby relevant committees would study it, the sources said.
The imminent vacancies in the military and ISF sectors come as the Army and other security forces are locked in an open battle against terrorist groups seeking to destabilize the country.
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