Appointments Back in the Spotlight as Bkirki Complains of Suleiman-Aoun Differences over Maronite Posts
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Public sector appointments came back to the spotlight after the government approved a much awaited wage hike but differences between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on the Maronite shares in state institutions will most likely delay the process.
“There is no strain with MP Michel Aoun or anyone else,” Suleiman said Thursday. “I have invited him to dinner.”
But according to media reports on Friday, efforts exerted by the seat of the Maronite church to bring the viewpoints of the president and the FPM chief closer have not yet yielded results.
Aoun is insisting on allowing each minister to name his own candidate for a post linked to his ministry but Suleiman holds onto a decision adopted by the government for each minister to name three candidates and allow the cabinet to choose from among them.
The main bone of contention between them is the post of the head of the Higher Judicial Council.
Suleiman is supporting Judge Alice Shabtini, who now heads the Military Appeals Court, to the post for her seniority and for “having a clean file.” But Aoun is backing Judge Tanios Meshleb to give him enough time to make achievements given that Shabtini has only a year and a few months before she retires.
Aoun also favors Meshleb, who is seen as an FPM supporter, given that the justice ministry is headed by FPM minister Shakib Qortbawi.
But the continued bickering between Suleiman and Aoun and the stalemate in the appointment of civil servants reserved for Maronites have frustrated Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.
Al-Rahi and Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh, Aoun’s ally, discussed the procrastination in the appointments over dinner in Bkirki on Thursday.
The sources of the conferees told An Nahar that the patriarch expressed hope that the obstacles hindering the appointments would be removed.
Meanwhile, the head of the Civil Service Council, Khaled Qabbani, said a committee has studied the file of candidates and nominated three persons for each post.
He told An Nahar that the Council referred their files to Prime Minister Najib Miqati for cabinet approval.
20 January 2012, 13:20
11
Aoun, please do Lebanon a favor and when your brother Bashar leaves for Iran, go with him...
20 January 2012, 14:12
01
why aoun should refuse to provide three names instead of one? this is the rule of thumb. unless he cannot find 3 candidates fit for the position in question among the large FPM circle of supporters.
20 January 2012, 14:57
11
Aoun acts like a spoiled little girl; me or nobody, all or none. He 's really not that bright or even a decent politician. He is a war criminal that bombarded east and west Beirut, a coward that left his wife and daughter behind, a thief that took millions of our money with him to France, a traitor for putting Iran’s and Syrian’s interests ahead of Lebanon, and finally and an idiot with no vision except obstructing progress.
20 January 2012, 15:38
11
"on the Maronite shares in state institutions will most likely delay the process."
thought this traitor wanted a secular state... doesn t seem to want to set an example... poor idiot
21 January 2012, 00:53
00
@ cookie_monster, please do not try to protect your beloved general by deeming others as fools, only one thing i will remember about general th great traitor, is how he ran like a chicken to the french embassy. And EVEN if you say the french obliged them, he had a gun , he could shoot himself and rather die with his soldiers than leave them to the mercy of the same regime he once supposedly fought... As for the Lebanese forces and the syrians, i wonder why Geagea never accepted a position as a minister in the syrian influenced government from 91-94. and got emprisonned. Stop spittng your dumb ideas around, he is no saint but at least he spent 11 years in jail for crimes every warmonger in lebanon commited to start with Berri . your general spent 15 golden years in a palace in france eating the best food and bdyguards and all.
21 January 2012, 00:59
00
@ cookie again, anyway nothing matters now, Hezbollah has the power over Lebanon, any appointements wont change nothing, your general is a puppet and not an ally. they tell him to shut up he will. And even if he becomes president one day, he will always have Hezbollah stronger than him and Sayyed hassan admitted never to surrender his weapons so dont expect your general will do something about it. He will become just like Sleiman, a puppet president for appearances, but one thing he wont have like Sleiman, is respectable positions and accepted by the whole world. He will be able to go nowhere with his disgusting language. At least even Hassan nasrallah which idont like but admire his intelligence and his charisma, as well as his know how to talk to masses. with one lift of a finger he could shut up hundred of thousands. Your general once he arrived to the airport had to use abusive language just to shut up 10 or 20 people. Good luck
21 January 2012, 01:35
00
@ cookies…
“last more” or steal more?
“waste time in the cabinet” ? Guess what that is their job!!
I don’t know how old you are, if you were not around back then he did throw bombs on the eastern and western side of Beirut. When he fled to France he couldn’t take his family because the stolen money filled the plane and there was no space left for them.
Just like your Hizb and amal friends turned their weapons to “ dakhil al watan” on May 7th; your General did the same. So don’t be calling people idiots when you have not figured things out yourself!
