President Michel Aoun will not back down from a controversial decree that has triggered a political confrontation between him and Parliament Speaker Mr. Nabih Berri.
President Aoun addressed the Media from Bkirki on Christmas Day and tackled this specific issue; He said: “the decree has been issued and it cannot be reversed, unless the Shura Council annuls it following an appeal from one of the objecting officers; moreover this decree needs only my signature and that of the PM.”
Parliament Speaker Berri and Financial Minister Khalil have insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister’s signature, while President Aoun argued that the decree does not require such signature because it does not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against.
The Aoun-Berri argument broke out after the president and Premier Saad Hariri signed the decree granting one-year seniority to a number of officers belonging to the 1990 Graduating class; While Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil refrained from signing it on Wednesday.
President Aoun’s adviser Jean Aziz reiterated that the controversial decree is “totally legal and does not contradict with any norm, especially with the Taef Accord.”
“More than 60 officer promotion decrees have been issued without the finance minister’s signature since the Taef Accord came into effect. Are these decrees considered void?” Aziz asked.
The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri reassured Thursday that every crisis has a solution, in reference to his argument with President Michel Aoun.
