Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi during a ceremony at USJ, Sept.15, 2023. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Friday he will authorize procedures against "all those corrupt" in government administrations, a statement that was made amid tensions with Internal Security Forces head Imad Othman.
Othman has been targeted by at least one "obstruction" lawsuit in the past years.
"We at the Interior Ministry have worked on supporting our people when it comes to security and administration," Mawlawi stated during a celebration for USJ university students after they volunteered at a vehicle registration center.
"When it comes to fighting corruption, we opened files and we will continue to do so with our partners," he vowed. Dozens of civil servants working in the center have been arrested in the past months for alleged corruption.
"We will not back off at any moment from giving the necessary authorizations to pursue the corrupt, whenever requests are made from the judiciary," Mawlawi added. He said that authorizations had already been granted to pursue corrupt employees in the vehicle registration center and "other administrations and institutions, related to security or not."
"We will not accept that Lebanon stays corrupt. This is my promise in front of you," Mawlawi added.
This week, local media outlets reported a dispute between Mawlawi and Othman over administrative decisions regarding certain positions.
One of the lawsuits against Othman dates back to February 2022, when Mount Lebanon Public Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun charged Othman with "obstruction of implementing a judicial warrant and breaching the duties of his job," after the ISF had failed to bring former central bank governor Riad Salameh to court.
Legally, Othman — as every public official — cannot be charged without Mawlawi's permission for prosecution.
Reacting to the media reports regarding a potential authorization to charge Othman, Akkar MP Walid Baarini, a former member of Saad Hariri's Future Movement who supported Othman's nomination, criticized Mawlawi.
"Before taking your decision, have you contacted Prime Minister Najib Mikati or just Gebran Bassil before rushing to follow his instructions?" Baarini wrote in a statement.
Bassil is head of the Free Patriotic Movement, a party rival to the Future Movement and a strong critic of Othman.