Caretaker Lebanese Defense Minister Maurice Slim. (Credit: Dalati and Nohra)
Lebanon's caretaker defense minister, Maurice Slim, lodged an appeal with the State Council on Wednesday against the government's decision to appoint Hassan Audi as the new Army Chief of Staff and his promotion to the rank of general, reports al-Markaziya news agency.
The State Council must now decide whether it is competent to deal with this appeal and may adopt, in the next few weeks, interim and conservatory measures on the case. Its final decision, however, could take months.
On Feb. 8, 2024, the government unanimously appointed Audi to the post of Chief of Staff, which had been vacant since December 2022. The cabinet had studied the case on the basis of a study drawn up by the council's secretary general, Mahmoud Makkiyeh, to avoid a vacuum in the army. In one of its points, it highlights the fact that the circumstances of the war between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon necessitate the appointment of a chief of staff. The appointment of the Druze officer is said to be the result of contacts between Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt and Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh and in accordance with the wishes of the army's head.
This appointment by the caretaker government is one of the issues that have strained relations between Slim and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Slim, like the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) to which he is close, believes that a cabinet in charge of current affairs should only deal with urgent matters and not make appointments, which require a sitting president. The caretaker minister, like his other colleagues, close to the FPM, has been boycotting governemnt meetings since the end of Michel Aoun's presidential term in October 2022.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.