Aoun Gives Constitutional Council First Task: We Will Contest Murr”s Membership in Assembly
MP Michel Aoun said Wednesday he planned to contest MP Michel Murr”s membership in Parliament before the Constitutional Council, in his first public appearance following March 8″s defeat in the June 7 elections.
"We will file a contestation before the Constitutional Council against MP Michel Murr on charges of intimidation and threats," Aoun said following the first meeting of his Change and Reform bloc in Rabieh after the polls.
"This will be the Constitutional Council”s first task and we will see if it will perform its duty," Aoun added.
On June 7, OTV broadcast a video showing Murr threatening clerics by making use of his son”s position as defense minister.
In another incident, OTV reported that Syriac Orthodox priest Elias al-Akari filed a complaint with the attorney general”s office against armed supporters of Murr for detaining him.
On Akari, Aoun said: "The case holds two angles: punitive and constitutional."
On the formation of cabinet, Aoun said that all members of the March 8 alliance "insist their participation in the government should be based on the principle of relativity."
The head of the Free Patriotic Movement also said he "supported awarding veto power to President Michel Suleiman within a constitutional framework." He insisted he was "not opposed to either the president or Bkirki."
Aoun expressed hope Suleiman would "support our platform for reform" and said the president of the republic must play "a reconciliatory role."
He criticized his political opponents for forming alliances based on "political funding with the rest of the groups, which are on the verge of collapse." Aoun said the opposition won over those groups and "overcame state apparatuses which worked in the elections and brought voters."
On his loss in the elections, Aoun said: "We had the support of 70% of Christians at a time when we had nothing in the government. Now we have 27 deputies. Explain to me how does that indicate we lost?"