Lebanese Forces MP Pierre Bou Assi announced that the executive committee of the party will hold a meeting on Monday evening to discuss the mandate extension project of Army Commander-in-Chief, General Joseph Aoun – who will retire in January – and the participation of its deputees in the parliamentary meeting planned to that end.
The Lebanese Forces are boycotting the parliamentary sessions, coming from the principle that the parliament’s main task is to elect a President.
During an interview conducted by Radio Liban Libre (RLL), Bou Assi stressed the importance of the army’s role and mission, “The army is Lebanon’s main guarantee of security.” He added, “In my opinion, the only solution is to extend General Aoun’s mandate another year, which is an obligation if one wants to avoid a security vacuum in the present circumstances.”
Pierre Bou Assi slammed the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Gebran Bassil, who has been campaigning against the Army Commander-in-Chief for months, and has criticized the leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, last Sunday – the latter had called for the implementation of resolution 1701 of the Security Council. “If this man who has failed in the electricity, foreign affairs, and telecommunications ministries wants to obtain Hezbollah’s approval and recognition, he should do it for himself only instead of dragging 4 million Lebanese citizens along with him,” Geagea stated.
According to him, Bassil “would do anything to become president or make a president.”
As for the FPM leader’s criticism of General Joseph Aoun, Bou Assi insisted that Gebran Bassil “contradicts himself constantly.” He further highlighted that “it was him who was opposed to the army’s deployment on the south border and later called for it to be deployed on the north and east borders,” while harshly criticizing the former Ministers of Defense, Zeina Akar and Elias Bou Saab, who had also remarked negatively on the army.
