Ibrahim after Talks with Aoun: Door is not Shut
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has said that he discussed with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun ways to resolve the cabinet crisis.
“The door is not closed. There is a possibility to find a solution,” Ibrahim told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Thursday.
Ibrahim denied that he discussed with Aoun on Wednesday a certain proposal, saying “we are discussing all ideas and all possibilities.”
He stressed that he hasn't stopped from holding contacts with other officials to end the current crisis, which erupted when FPM officials said they would not approve any decision in the cabinet if ministers do not first agree on its decision-making mechanism.
The FPM has been holding anti-government protests to pressure Prime Minister Tammam Salam into amending the mechanism that was adopted as a result of the vacuum at the presidential palace.
The movement's ministers want to have a say in setting the cabinet agenda, claiming they represent the Christian president in his absence.
The FPM also rejects the extension of the terms of high-ranking military and security officials, calling for the appointment of new officers because Aoun wants his son-in-law Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, who is the Commando Regiment chief, to become army chief.
His demands have led to the paralysis of the executive body, which failed to convene this week.
Ibrahim has launched an initiative to raise the retirement age of senior army officers for three years to end the growing political crisis.
Al-Joumhouria said that Speaker Nabih Berri, the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora and Progressive Socialist Party chief lawmaker Walid Jumblat also held a meeting on Monday to discuss ways to activate the cabinet's work.
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