Lebanon is in danger and the military institution must be maintained
The head of the Lebanese Forces party, Dr. Samir Geagea, denied, in an interview with the "Akhbar al-Yawm" agency, that the LF have abandoned their principled position, which is, rejecting the legislation in light of the presidential vacuum through the proposal of the accelerated law aimed at amending the age of retirement from service for the rank of Major General in the army, submitted by the Strong Republic bloc to the House of Representatives yesterday, stressing that the House of Representatives is currently an electoral body that meets only for the election of the president of the Republic, and therefore it is not permissible to legislate before the completion of the presidential elections.
He said: but the session we are calling for is not a legislative session in the traditional or ordinary sense, but it has to do with national security and the fate of the country and the people as a whole, pointing out that the Middle East is in danger, and Lebanon is one of the most vulnerable points, and therefore, is it permissible to play "in the military institution", which is one of the very few institutions that are still "steadfast" and performing its functions?!
Geagea stressed that we are still at the same principled position of rejecting the legislation before the completion of the presidential elections, but the issue of the army command is a very urgent and existential issue that also has to do with the fate of Lebanon as a state, and from this point of view we proposed holding the session.
Geagea pointed out that the Strong Republic bloc participated last week in the session of recomposing the Bureau of the council and parliamentary committees and electing their chairmen, because this session has to do with the regular work of constitutional institutions, where the House of Representatives must be preserved, and that session had nothing to do with legislation in its traditional sense. The problem related to the leadership of the army is similar, but it is much bigger because it concerns the entity and security and requires the existence of the Army as an existing institution.
Commenting on the question quoted by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, saying: "Why did the LF now accept the legislation after rejecting it earlier and why did they propose the extension of the army commander's mandate and did not raise it in the case of the governor of the Banque du Liban and the Director General of General Security?" Geagea stressed that this stage requires saving Lebanon with all the meaning of this word. He added: the LF remain at their initial position, but Lebanon is in danger and the military institution must be preserved.
He explained that the army is not a normal institution, saying: the army is a command that cannot be managed through the conduct of business, it is a group of fighters carrying weapons or large armed groups, which needs actual leadership, especially in the current circumstances. And we tested General Aoun for six years, and we saw how he leads the army and the institution in the most difficult circumstances.
And whether the approval of the extension will bring General Joseph Aoun closer to the Baabda Palace or not, Geagea only said: I don't know, and we didn't do the calculations from this angle, but we in the Lebanese Forces and the Strong Republic bloc approached the issue from the point of view of perserving the army in light of the prevailing difficult circumstances.