Aoun for Gen. Suleiman heading Interim non-constitutional Cabinet

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun was quoted Friday as proposing a compromise based on appointing Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman head of an interim cabinet that would sponsor parliamentary elections.

 

George al-Aaraj, representative of the so-called Liberal Tigers faction that broke away from the National Liberal party, told reporters he discussed with Aoun the idea that “Gen. Michel Suleiman, being the subject of consensus, heads a transitional government that supervises parliamentary elections.”

 

“Gen. Aoun said the idea is part of his perspective,” Aaraj added, according to a report distributed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).

 

The non-constitutional proposal appears aimed at averting efforts aimed at facilitating the election of Suleiman president, which would drop Aoun as a major factor to any settlement.

 

Only an elected president can appoint a head of an interim government, a post to which Aoun was appointed by ex-President Amin Gemayel when his term came to an end late in the 1980s during the civil war.

 

The post of president went vacant on Nov. 22 when former head of state Emile Lahoud”s term expired with parliament failing to elect a successor.