Member of the Democratic gathering MP Wael Bou Faour affirmed on Wednesday that in the absence of a president of the Republic, the ideal formula would be to extend the term of the army commander, Joseph Aoun, who will retire on January 10, and appoint a military council.
Bou Faour announced after meeting with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian at Dar el-Fatwa that “the Progressive Socialist Party and the Parliamentary Democratic Gathering call again from this platform (Dar el-Fatwa) for the necessity of extending the term of Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and appointing a military council.” He denounced any tampering in the institution’s stability, especially the Lebanese Army, which is the only military institution that is protecting the stability in Lebanon.
“If there is a logic that a Commander in Chief should not be appointed in the absence of a President, the response to this should be, in addition to the qualifications and specifications of the current army commander, to extend his term and appoint a military council to ensure the stability of this institution and to avoid any sense of uncertainty around the army.” Bou Faour said
He pointed to a convergence of views with Sheikh Derian, saying that both consider that “the ultimate cause, which surpasses any other, especially in the events of the war in Gaza and what is happening on Lebanon’s borders and the internal economic, living, and social crisis we face, is the election of a president of the republic,” adding that “no one should take what is happening in Palestine as a pretext, but rather what is happening there and in Lebanon should be a motive.”
