Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati meets with caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim on Tuesday, Dec. 27. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
BEIRUT — The Free Patriotic Movement on Wednesday accused caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati of "forgery" for claiming that caretaker social affairs and defense ministers had signed recent decrees, which the ministries and FPM deny.
Both ministers — Hector Hajjar and Maurice Slim — are affiliated with the FPM and insist that the decrees, related to the budget of the social affairs minister and aid to army members, be signed by all 23 cabinet ministers and not only those impacted by the new measures.
The disagreement comes as the FPM accuses Mikati of taking on certain presidential powers as the country nears two entire months with no head of state, and as the cabinet itself remains in only a caretaker capacity following May legislative elections. No new cabinet has been formed since then.
In its statement Wednesday, FPM's media office said Mikati has committed "forgery and use of forgeries" by issuing decrees that do not respect "confessional balance, the constitution and the law."
They accused Mikati of issuing new decrees after pretending the concerned ministers didn't sign them. According to FPM, Slim signed "another version of the decree where space was allotted for the signatures of the 24 ministers and without the note 'Approved by the Council of ministers.'"
"Lebanon has never witnessed such fraudulent methods in its history; it doesn't suit the position of a prime minister and puts its implementers at risk of lawsuits; the most dangerous thing is the violation of the [National] Pact, the constitution and the law from those who should protect it, instead of using fraudulent methods," the FPM statement said.
Mikati responded to those accusations in a statement of his own, saying that Hajjar had indeed signed the first decree mentioned and that "he did not object or accept the decree" in the latest cabinet session. Earlier this month, Mikati held a cabinet session that was boycotted by several ministers affiliated with FPM.
The caretaker Prime minister also said that Slim himself issued the social assistance decree for the military and had signed it, along with several other ministers but that it was necessary that the text be signed by the whole cabinet, as per the constitution.
He also accused FPM of "only knowing how to obstruct government institutions" and having political interests with military and non-military institutions.