Protocol Mistake or Not! Aoun Seeks to Stir Suleiman’s Anger
The bickering between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun didn’t go unnoticed during St. Maroun Day on Thursday after Aoun violated the protocol and entered the St. George Cathedral after the head of state.
Media reports said Friday that several officials were frustrated when Aoun delayed his entry to the cathedral to attend a mass celebrated by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.
They reported that some of the attendees applauded when Suleiman went in. But Aoun’s supporters, who were present at the cathedral en masse, made a higher round of applause.
The protocol violation frustrated some of the officials attending the mass, the reports said.
The mass was attended by Speaker Nabih Berri, Premier Najib Miqati and other top officials.
During a luncheon held on the occasion at the Beirut Maronite Archbishopric after the church celebration, al-Rahi told Suleiman that every time he was harmed, all the Lebanese would be harmed.
But the president cited a verse from a famous Arabic poem, saying the nation would be lost if its people become unethical.
During the lunch, which wasn’t attended by Aoun, Suleiman called for unity and openness towards everyone in Lebanon and outside it.
He also urged the Lebanese to preserve Lebanon’s democratic plurality and to exercise it in the right way.
Suleiman and Aoun have been at loggerheads over the appointments of civil servants in posts reserved for Christians. The main point of contention is the head of the Higher Judicial Council.
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