Lebanese Head of State Michel Aoun during a speech on Oct. 28, 2022. (Credit: Dalati Nohra)
BEIRUT — Lebanese President Michel Aoun, said Friday that "no law" prevents the resignation of the government of Najib Mikati, which he threatened to implement if Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati doesn't form a new cabinet by Monday, to "be accepted," three days before the end of his six-year term as head of state on Oct. 31.
Aoun, who is the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement added that it is "unacceptable to impose a tutelage" on this party during the discussions for the formation of the cabinet.
On Thursday, Aoun accused Prime Minister-designate Mikati, whose ministerial team has been managing current affairs since May 22, of "not wanting to form a government" and wanting to impose on nominations of FPM ministers.
"There is no law that prevents the resignation [of the government] from being accepted," Aoun said in a discussion with journalists.
"I will speak out against the non-adoption of unified criteria for forming a government," he continued, in a reference to the dispute with Mikati over the distribution of portfolios in the government.
The threat of a total vacuum in the Executive is becoming more likely as the presidential deadline looms and the cabinet remains in a caretaker capacity for the first time in Lebanon's history. However, according to the Constitution, the government is already considered to have resigned since the end of the previous legislature and the election of a new Parliament last May.
Aoun also noted that it is "unacceptable to impose a trusteeship on the FPM when we have refused the trusteeship of [some] countries," considering that "it is shameful that Gebran Bassil is always blamed." Bassil is the head of FPM and Aoun's son-in-law.
"No secret agreements"
The day after the signing of an agreement on the delineation of the Lebanese maritime border with Israel, Aoun affirmed that "making peace with Israel is not envisaged and there are no secret agreements."
The day before, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid had argued that this agreement was a de facto "recognition" of the Jewish state by Lebanon.
Aoun also spoke about the land border with Syria, after Damascus recently canceled a visit by a Lebanese delegation commissioned by himself to go to Syria to discuss the issue.
"The meeting was postponed for reasons that we may not know, but I think the Syrian side is still not ready," he said, noting that "negotiations, even with friends, are difficult."
"If the phone call with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was not positive, we would not have asked for a date to send a Lebanese delegation," Aoun added.