Aoun: No Constitutional Amendment Before Political Accord
Change and Reform Bloc leader MP Michel Aoun offered conditional support on Monday for the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, to assume the presidency, saying the move would be contingent on its being “in line” with a proposal issued by Aoun last month – and on a political agreement to amend the Constitition to lift a ban on senior civil servants (including military officers) from Baabda Palace.
Aoun”s announcement came on the same day he unveiled a “Memorandum of Christian Principles and Basics,” the result of three days of talks with other Christian figures last week. He also met with Suleiman at his home in Rabieh.
The memo outlined several “immediate demands:” that a president enjoy “representative and personal qualities;” that a Christian “imbalance” in government jobs be redressed; that a just election law which employs a small electoral district be adopted to ensure fair representation; that Christians displaced during the 1975-1990 Civil War be returned to their homes; and that the fate of those missing from the same conflict be determined.
Aoun said Christians seek to “engage other communities” and strengthen national unity, stressing that an “active role” bolsters and supports Christians” existence in Lebanon. The memorandum said Christians suffered from demographic changes resulting from the naturalization law passed in the 1990s.
The document criticized whqat it called Christians” “symbolic” participation in government and that a “Christian crisis” has been exacerbated by the vacuum in the presidency since Emile Lahoud left office last month. Aoun also decried attempts to push the Maronite Church into a more political role. The document said Christians should choose a president who would then enjoy national backing. Aoun also called for holding Christian political leaders accountable.
Aoun rejected reverting to an era where each sect builds up its own defense forces. He called instead for a unified defense strategy. Aoun also called for re-establishing the middle class and adopting a reform program to fight corruption.
Aoun said that part of the crisis Christians are going through right now is due to regional and Western perceptions that their role as a conduit between the East and the West in the region is no longer relevant. He said the root cause of regional conflict has been the failure to find a just resolution to the Palestinian issue and failure to spread democracy in the region, which the Christian presence in Lebanon can redress by offering a model of coexistence with other sects.