Because of fears of his presidential chances
Sunday – 12 Shaaban 1444 AH – 05 March 2023 CE Issue Number [16168]
Beirut: «Asharq Al-Awsat»
The political clash continues between the Lebanese Minister of Defense, retired Brigadier General Maurice Selim, and the army commander, General Joseph Aoun, and a political source put this clash within the framework of the efforts of former President Michel Aoun and the head of the “Free Patriotic Movement”, Representative Gebran Bassil, to block the presidential chances of the army commander, considering Salim as a count. Ali Aoun and Bassil, who accuse the army commander of not forcibly confronting the popular uprising in October 2019, which the former president considered directed once morest his reign, while the army commander’s opinion was the necessity of resolving the crisis politically and not by force.
This campaign once morest the army commander is accompanied by a position skeptical regarding his presidential chances announced by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, as part of his assertion that the “Amal” movement and “Hezbollah” support the candidacy of the head of the “Marada” movement, former MP Suleiman Franjieh. Berri said that the election of the army commander needs a constitutional amendment, which is unlikely under a caretaker government.
A prominent political source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the “war” taking place between the Minister of Defense on behalf of Aoun and Bassil, and the army commander, would not have happened had it not been for the fact that the name of the army commander is being circulated as a presidential candidate that enjoys regional and international support to include him among the contestants.
The same source confirms that the problem is not personal between the Army Commander and the Minister of Defense, but rather goes beyond it to waging an “open war” at the instigation of President Aoun and Basil, and that the focus on the financial part related to the military institution is intended to damage the army commander’s image with the international community, and reveals that the pro-Franjieh team He is betting that Bassil may have to withdraw his objection to Franjieh’s candidacy if it turns out that Aoun’s fortunes are ahead of other candidates.
