Aoun calls for parliamentary consultations to appoint a new prime minister starting Monday

The Lebanese presidency issued a statement in which President Michel Aoun called for official consultations with deputies to appoint a new prime minister starting next Monday, after the presidency said yesterday that the consultation conducted by President Michel Aoun on the formation of the new government does not constitute a violation. The constitution, in response to the statement of former Lebanese prime ministers Najib Mikati, Fouad Siniora and Tamam Salam, who condemned in a statement yesterday, violated the Taif Agreement adopted in 1989, and ended the civil war.

In a press statement yesterday, the Presidency said in response to a statement by former heads of government in which President Aoun called for respecting the constitution, «the consultation conducted by the President of the Republic does not constitute a violation of the Constitution or a violation of the Taif Agreement, neither in its text nor in its spirit, especially since the Constitution emanating from this agreement It does not set a time limit for conducting binding parliamentary consultations, nor does it set a deadline for the president-designate to complete the formation of the government in agreement with the President of the Republic. Therefore, there is no attack by the President on the powers of anybody ».

The statement added: «If the former presidents realized the consequences of the accelerated conduct of parliamentary consultations would have negative repercussions on the general situation in the country and on national unity and charter legitimacy, they would not have issued this statement and the fallacies contained in it and they would have realized the correctness of the decision taken by President Michel Aoun in order to preserve the national and charter foundations on which Lebanon was founded ».

The statement continued that «the President of the Republic, the goal by giving room for consultations between the parliamentary blocs, to secure broad support for the President-designate is easy to form a government, in light of the painful experiences that occurred in the days of the owners of the state who issued the statement today (yesterday)» .

He pointed out that «the issue of consultation that precedes the formation of any new government was normal and always conducted in normal circumstances, how how the country is going in exceptional circumstances need exceptional steps to protect its unity and the requirements of national reconciliation and the content of the introduction of the Constitution, which the President is keen in all steps To respect and abide by ».

Former Lebanese prime ministers, Najib Mikati, Fouad Siniora and Tamam Salam, called on President Michel Aoun to respect the constitution, describing his consultations to form a government and name its president in serious breach of the Taif Agreement.

The former heads of government, in a press statement yesterday: «The former heads of government have breached this serious breach of the Taif Agreement and the Constitution, as well as the blatant assault on the powers of deputies by naming the President-designate through parliamentary consultations binding the President of the Republic to conduct and results, and then assault The powers of the prime minister when he is tasked with forming the government after conducting the necessary consultations, through the anticipation of these consultations and the creation of the so-called potential prime minister, which was done by His Excellency President Michel Aoun and Minister Gebran Bassil, as announced by the Basil saw itself ».

The presidents felt that "this farce must be stopped immediately and the initiative and without any delay to return to respect the Constitution and what is stipulated."

The statement added that «ignoring the resignation of Saad Hariri's government, and neglecting the conduct of parliamentary consultations to name the prime minister-designate, while denying the relentless demands of the people continued for nearly 50 days, all of this is in disregard of the demands of the Lebanese and ignored their will by the President of the Republic».

They said that «the unprecedented attack, not before or after Taif, on the position of prime minister constitutes a serious crime against the unity of the Lebanese people and the provisions of the Constitution».

The statement pointed out that «any candidate for prime minister agrees to engage in consultations on the form of the government and its members before his mandate, and accept to undergo a test by the examining committee is not qualified or constitutionally authorized, but also contributes to the breach of the Constitution, and weaken and hit the position of the Prime Minister.

They considered their meetings open "to follow the developments."

It is noteworthy that the Lebanese Constitution stipulates that the President of the Republic shall nominate the Prime Minister in charge of consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, based on binding parliamentary consultations and informing him of its results.

In another context, the Maronite bishops warned against deliberate attacks by political parties on the popular movement through violence or infiltration to beat them, and called on the "wise people in the country" to stop it.