Bassil slams Berri, Mikati and MPs over army chief file
Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Friday accused caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati of seeking to violate the constitution and the law and MPs of seeking to “legislate in favor of a single person,” in reference to efforts to extend the term of Army chief Joseph Aoun.
“I’m watching them and smiling: one of them is focused on irritating me and one of them wants to satisfy me. Someone knows that I’m right but that I should not win and someone knows that I should not lose but that I should not win this much,” Bassil said in a post on the X platform.
“I have won anyway, and at least I’ve won myself! Can you think of the country and its interest and forget about me?? Can you work with your conscience instead of being controlled by your grudges?” Bassil added.
Addressing ministers, he wondered how they can “accept that the premier bypass both the constitution and the law and usurp the jurisdiction of a minister,” referring to the defense minister and the argument that his signature is needed for any decision related to the army chief.
Accusing Mikati to trying to “deal a fatal blow to the Taif Accord,” Bassil warned MPs against “legislating for the sake of a single person.”
As for Speaker Nabih Berri, Bassil asked him how he could “accept such legislation” while knowing that “it falls under the government’s jurisdiction” and would represent “a major blow to the separation of powers.”
“You all know that under any circumstances, there will be no vacuum in the army and no fear for its unity and that only a Christian will be at its helm. The problem is not here, the problem is the spite against domestic parties and the subservience to foreign forces,” Bassil added.
“I forgive those who want to irritate me and I liberate those who want to satisfy me. Do whatever you want but work according to your conscience and your country’s interest! Let no one try to blackmail, tempt or threaten me; I only act according to my beliefs and conscience,” Bassil went on to say.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/302151 |