Former President of the Republic Michel Aoun reiterated on Thursday the hostile position of his party, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), to the participation of its ally, Hezbollah, in the war against Israel and the opening of a “front of support for Gaza” in South Lebanon since October 2023. In an interview with the pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar, the first since his departure from the Baabda Palace in October 2022, Michel Aoun considered that “Lebanon is the smallest country in the region, and no economic or security agreement binds it to Gaza”. For him, “the Americans do not want this war” and “we should not give the Israelis a pretext”. “I fear defeat by Israel and I fear for the future of Lebanon,” he insisted, noting many differences with the 2006 war.
The former army commander-in-chief, however, described Hezbollah’s military performance as “measured and intelligent,” but said he was worried about “the prospect of an Israeli ground invasion to create a buffer zone south of the Litani.” He described his relationship with Hezbollah, his ally for 18 years, as “calm,” saying that political differences should not turn into sectarian ones. “They did not support me, during my presidency, in issues that were close to my heart, such as the financial audit (of the Central Bank, editor’s note), and I made my position known, but that has nothing to do with our strategic position,” he added.
On the issue of the presidential vacancy, the former head of state, who has not been succeeded at the Baabda Palace since the end of his term in October 2022, considered that “the affair is now globalized”, saying he feared that “foreign parties planned this vacancy”. He did not hesitate to take a dig at the current commander-in-chief of the army, General Joseph Aoun, one of the potential presidential candidates, who is among the opponents of his movement. “The Constitution is being trampled on, otherwise what explains the extension of the mandate of the commander-in-chief of the army (in January, when General Aoun was due to retire, editor’s note) when there are 20 officers who are better than him?” he asked. “Gebran Bassil is not a dictator”
Asked about what is happening within the party he founded, the FPM, and which is chaired by his son-in-law Gebran Bassil, after the dismissal or resignation of four of its prominent figures, Michel Aoun said that “these four MPs made mistakes, and it turned out that they have new political tendencies, and even traveled abroad without consulting (the party).” He insisted that “Gebran Bassil is not a dictator, he is a decision-maker who assumes the responsibility of enforcing the internal regulations, and they do not want that.”
In recent weeks, four MPs have left the party ranks, Elias Bou Saab and Alain Aoun by dismissal, and Simon Abi Ramia and Ibrahim Kanaan by resignation. Michel Aoun particularly accused Ibrahim Kanaan, who is also chairman of the finance committee in parliament, of failing to vote on reforms such as the text on capital controls, “which cost the FPM dearly on a popular level.” Lebanon has been shaken since 2019 by an unprecedented economic and financial crisis, and depositors do not have access to their money blocked in banks.
The founder of the FPM, however, said he was confident that the party would get through this period without any problems, and that “it was necessary to put things in order.” Ibrahim Kanaan’s response to Michel Aoun’s interview, as well as to other statements from the FPM that have attacked him since his resignation on Wednesday, was not long in coming. He said he was responding to “coordinated and programmed comments, with well-known objectives.” On the question of his role in the delay in voting on the capital control law, raised in the interview with Akhbar, he recalled in a statement that his committee “had prepared a bill on May 20, 2020, but it was Hassan Diab’s government that did not adopt it, and the evidence abounds in both the minutes of the meetings and in the press.” And this, according to him, is what contributed to the flight of capital from the wealthiest. Citing the press at the time, he pointed out that it was Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni who withdrew the text from the agenda, and when Hassane Diab expressed surprise, he retorted that it was the subject of many comments. However, according to Mr. Kanaan, the Finance Committee adopted a version of the text amended following the remarks of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on June 21, 2021, which denies any allegation that the committee and its head did nothing in this area.
This article is originally published on lorientlejour.com
