Mustaqbal: Cabinet Must be Spared Any Clashes and Only Army Should Defend Border
Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday stressed that only the army should defend Lebanon's borders against armed attacks, as it called for preserving Prime Minister Tammam Salam's cabinet, describing it as the guarantee for stability in this period.
“The protection of all aspects of stability must be at the core of the Lebanese officials' interests,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.
“Accordingly, and especially amid the current circumstances, the council of ministers is the only institution in charge of maintaining the sought-after stability at all levels, in the face of the growing local and external threats and tornadoes,” the bloc added.
“It is the institution that must be preserved and spared any clashes, instead of being dragged into new problems,” Mustaqbal emphasized.
According to media reports, MP Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement ministers might suspend their participation in the cabinet over the growing dispute regarding security appointments.
Aoun is reportedly seeking political consensus on the appointment of his son-in-law, Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, as army commander as part of a package for the appointment of other top security officers.
Turning to the protracting presidential vacuum, Mustaqbal reiterated its call for the speedy election of a successor to Michel Suleiman, whose term ended in May 2014, warning that the continued procrastination would lead to “further deterioration.”
The situations are “increasingly deteriorating due to intransigent, personal and arrogant proposals and stances that are detached from reality,” the bloc noted.
As for the ongoing clashes between Hizbullah and militant groups in Syria's Qalamoun region, Mustaqbal underlined that “the mission of defending Lebanon's eastern and northern borders with Syria against militants is the mission of the Lebanese army and not any other party.”
“The army has demonstrated full readiness, sacrifice, preparedness and valor in the performance of this huge national mission,” the bloc pointed out.
It also renewed its stance calling for the “immediate withdrawal of Hizbullah from Syria and the halt of its partnership with the Syrian regime in the daily massacres and destruction against the Syrian people.”
“With the eruption of the clashes on the Qalamoun front, Lebanon must remain outside the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen” instead of “being implicated in the growing problems of the region,” the bloc urged.
Y.R.
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