BEIRUT: MP Michel Aoun’s rejection of plans to extend the terms of Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi and Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous is part of his pressure on rival political leaders to elect him as president, according to parliamentary sources in the March 8 and March 14 camps.
“Aoun’s latest stance rejecting the extension of Kahwagi’s and Basbous’ terms comes in the framework of pushing the political parties to be convinced that his election to the presidency seat is the solution to all outstanding problems,” the sources told The Daily Star.
In remarks published by As-Safir newspaper Monday, Aoun said the possible extension of the terms of the Army and ISF chiefs is among matters that cannot be a subject of a compromise or consensus “because there is no room for a compromise between law and exceptions.”
Therefore, the rules call for the appointment of two new officers in the Army and ISF commands when the terms of those currently occupying the posts expire, Aoun was quoted as saying.
Basbous retires on June 5 while Kahwagi retires on Sept. 23.
However, the sources said Aoun’s remarks were in sharp contrast with the information available from most political parties as well as the Cabinet’s main components.
According to the sources, a draft law to raise the retirement age of senior officers in the Army and the ISF is still in the drawers of the Cabinet’s Secretariat General as it is difficult to present it to the Cabinet for discussion, and subsequently to Parliament’s general assembly for approval, given the political complications facing it and hurdles inside the military institutions.
As the terms of both Basbous and Kahwagi draw to a close, the government will have to take action on their positions, either to extend the terms or appoint new figures.
Aoun is fully aware that the appointment of a new Army commander, replacing Kahwagi, under the current circumstances and in the absence of a president is rejected by most political parties, including Hezbollah, which still considers Kahwagi a necessity while the military is engaged in the battle against terrorism, the sources said.
Furthermore, some Big Powers are still relying on the command of the Lebanese Army in the battle against terrorism, they added.
With regard to the ISF chief, the extension of Basbous’ term is considered essential because of the legislative deadlock impeding all state institutions and positions, the sources said. They added that the extension of the ISF chief’s term is the only available means to deal with the situation, pending the election of a president.
According to the sources, the Cabinet’s new decision-making mechanism, which led last week to the appointment of five new members of the Banking Control Commission despite the objections and reservations of six ministers, would no longer allow one minister to obstruct any consensus agreement that might be reached by the Cabinet’s main parties.
The three Kataeb ministers, who met Prime Minister Tammam Salam Monday to discuss with him the Cabinet’s new decision-making mechanism, came out with the impression that the premier was unlikely to change this mechanism, the sources said.
Salam, the sources said, has repeated in front of everyone that the country was going through extraordinary circumstances and therefore extraordinary decisions would have to be made.
Salam said if consensus was reached among the Cabinet parties on any issue, it would be approved, adding that there would be no obstruction of the citizens’ affairs.
The sources said Aoun’s rejection of the extension of Kahwagi’s and Basbous’ terms would not change anything as long as the other political parties upheld their positive stance on the extension.
Aoun’s position will be similar to the stances of the ministers of the Kataeb Party, the Progressive Socialist Party and former President Michel Sleiman, who voiced reservations about the appointment of the Banking Control Commission’s members, though the appointment was finally approved by the Cabinet and those ministers were unable to derail it, the sources said.
Meanwhile, ministerial sources fully ruled out the possibility of a deal between Aoun and the Future Movement whereby Imad Othman, chief of the ISF’s Information Branch, would be appointed new ISF chief, in exchange for appointing Shamel Roukoz, head of the Army Commando Unit, as the new Army commander.
Roukoz, Aoun’s son-in-law, has emerged as a strong candidate to succeed Kahwagi as Army commander.
Aoun, the head of the parliamentary Change and Reform bloc, will stand alone in his opposition to the extension of the terms of the Army commander and the ISF chief, especially after Speaker Nabih Berri said he did not rule out this option, while Aoun’s ally, Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh, came out in support of the extension, the sources said.
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