AMAL Ministers May Boycott Cabinet over Aoun-Berri Row
The growing spat between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri could lead to a boycott of Cabinet sessions by the ministers of Berri's AMAL Movement, a media report said.
“A number of political forces fear that the crisis could reflect negatively on the Cabinet and could even lead to the suspension of its sessions,” al-Akhbar newspaper quoted political sources as saying in remarks published Thursday.
“Berri considers that the (officers) seniority decree has disrupted the balance through which the country is being governed and he will not back down from his stance, even if that leads to a boycott of Cabinet sessions by AMAL Movement's ministers,” the sources added.
The sources warned that “such a boycott would paralyze the Cabinet,” noting that Berri's stance enjoys the support of Hizbullah and MP Walid Jumblat.
Jumblat “sees a coup against the Taef Accord in the decree and vengeance against all those who took part in making and implementing it,” the sources pointed out.
Other political sources meanwhile ruled out that the crisis could reach the extent of suspending Cabinet sessions.
“These sources are counting on the mediators who are continuing their initiatives and who are seeking new approaches aimed at achieving a breakthrough,” al-Akhbar said, noting that General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim is still playing a leading role in the mediations.
The Aoun-Berri spat broke out after the president and Premier Saad Hariri signed a decree granting one-year seniority to a number of officers. Berri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil have insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature.
Aoun and his aides have argued that the decree did not require Khalil's signature because it did not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against.
Ain el-Tineh sources have meanwhile warned that the decree would tip sectarian balance in favor of Christians in the army's highest echelons.
The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy when Syrian forces ousted Aoun’s military government from Baabda in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.
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