The caretaker Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, during the meeting of the Council of Ministers at the Grand Serail in Beirut, December 19, 2023. (Credit X/@Grandserail)
The caretaker Lebanese government confirmed the extension army commander Joseph Aoun's term as voted by Parliament last Friday. None of the 18 ministers present opposed the law, which will come into force as soon as it is published in the Official Gazette.
Meeting shortly after 9:30 a.m. in the Grand Serail under the chairmanship of Mikati, the cabinet began with a diatribe by the latter against caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim, who was absent this morning.
"As soon as Maurice Slim raised his voice in the middle of an informal meeting at the Serail, I felt that his page had definitely been turned," said the head of the cabinet, quoted by local channel MTV. Mikati affirmed that the appointment of an army chief of staff "will not be discussed" during the session, according to al-Jadeed television.
Nothing but official notes
"The Council Presidency is not a scapegoat. From now on, all contact with him will be made through the official notes that will be sent to him," continued Mikati. The caretaker prime minister emphasized that from now on, correspondence with the Council's head would be strictly through formal channels.
According to the broadcaster al-Jadeed, the caretaker prime minister also notified Slim that the appointment of a chief of staff "will not be made" during the session. This session includes a six-point agenda in addition to those on the previous agenda for the session that was supposed to take place on Dec. 15 but was ultimately torpedoed due to a lack of a quorum. This morning's session was able to proceed thanks to the presence of 18 ministers out of 24 (barely surpassing the minimum number of ministers required). The ministers will examine a number of issues, including Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
The appointment of a chief of staff (a position reserved for the Druze) within the army was also expected during this session. This meeting of the government comes just a few days after Aoun's mandate was extended by a law passed by Parliament on Friday evening, a few hours after a government meeting that was supposed to be held to delay Aoun's departure failed.
This extension was made against the wishes of Gebran Bassil's Free Patriotic Movement, to which the caretaker defense minister is close. His relationship with the army chief is extremely strained. A possible appointment of Hassane Audi (a Druze officer supported by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt) to the post of army chief of staff had been mooted. However, this was met with a Christian refusal to see the caretaker cabinet make appointments in the midst of a vacancy at the head of state. Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term expired on Oct. 31, 2022.
Saving the country from one-upmanship
"Over the past week, we have followed the sessions of Parliament, which have confirmed legislative stability," said the caretaker prime minister, referring to Parliament's plenary meetings last Thursday and Friday, in particular, to extend the army commander's term.
"This proved that only the proper functioning of institutions can save the country from (political) one-upmanship," Mikati insisted. "We still insist that the new President of the Republic be elected as soon as possible. Parliament must continue to legislate and the government must be able to continue its work," he concluded.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.