Hariri is a Depute in charge and not a president! Our lunch together will take place if he can make his media stop attacking me... General Michel Aoun: Gebran Basil is a good minister; I advise them to visit the "Wall of China" next time...”
General Michel Aoun, Leader of the FPM and of the biggest Christians Bloc in the parliament, held a news conference on Monday revealing his stances concerning the cabinet formation process. He responded to allegations that have been raised against him recently saying that the majority is covering up for its failure "by blaming us for stalling the cabinet formation."
MP Michel Aoun stated that ongoing campaign against his son-in-law Gebran Bassil “aims to make people forget the pre-electoral campaign based on lies, so they forget the public debt that amounts $58 billion and divert attention from the absence of a program for strengthening domestic situation, in order to cover the incapability of the Cabinet.
And before entering into the details of the formation of the new cabinet , General Aoun reminded the voters of all March 14s slogans that they used during the elections and said, “Before the elections, politicians were scaring people of Hezbollah’s arms and other issues, such as shortening the president’s mandate; We were faced with deceptive media reports, and 3,700 violation before the 2009 parliamentary elections. The politicians have stooped to such a low level, where the Lebanese are being lied to.”
Now they are holding a campaign against Gebran Bassil, well let me tell you what the aim of this campaign is! First , it is to make the people forget the false campaigns they launched before the elections…Second, they want to cover up their inability to form a cabinet, because they have not been given the green light to do so yet.
Aoun added, “The attempt to minimize the Free Patriotic Movement’s weight with the Cabinet started at the Parliament, though, we won despite everything. We sought winning the majority but failed to”. He said that, from now on, there was the only-conceding-party equation. “We won’t have but five ministers out of six, which is a limitation of our weight,” he added. He noted that the other was making a wrong focus and didn’t rule out Cabinet formation would drag on until school entrance.”
General Aoun also stated that MP Walid Jumblatt put an end to the 15-10-5 formula, shattered the image of the Cabinet and, from now on, the majority existed no more. “No matter what the Cabinet structure will be, the majority will be a minority. You just have to calculate the numbers 12-10-5” he said.
“You do the math, and you will see that the formula has become 12-10-5-3”, which grants the majority 12 ministers, the opposition 10, the president five and Jumblatt three. Aoun stressed, on the other hand, the president powers should be strengthened. "He should be given the authority to intervene in all ministries, rather than being granted a ministerial share. In fact the whole Cabinet should be the president's share."
General Aoun stressed on the fact that he was concerned in the national unity Cabinet more than the Cabinet itself; “ A Cabinet should not be formed mistakenly and I would not allow, in any means, to let the domestic situation explode.” The majority has to respect our popular representation through forming the cabinet on the basis of proportionality,” he added.
Talking about the obstructing third general Aoun said, “We are proud to have impeded the Mafia, the waste and theft of the state funds and we are not ashamed of what we have done.”
Moreover, Gebran Bassil “obstructed a mafia that was selling pre-paid cards in the black market, golden numbers and VIP holders. He also stopped overcharging international calls, illegal eavesdropping, and the illegal internet network in Barouk, which is affiliated with Israel as well as other illegal practices,” General Aoun added..
March 14 forces insisted on not appointing “losers” in the 2009 Parliamentary elections said General Aoun, “ just because I insist on having Gebran Bassil. However I tell you that the stalling of the cabinet is due to “external reasons”, they are the real cause behind stalling the cabinet formation, such as the statements made by the US and Israeli officials,” General Aoun said adding that foreign interferences by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman are ongoing. “Pre-election and post-election global war on us persists.”
Meanwhile and when it comes to Bassil , General Aoun responded to March 14 political campaign against the FPM by praising Bassil for his achievements in the previous government as Telecommunications Minister saying he is proud of Bassil as his son-in-law, a minister and a struggler.
“Bassil obstructed a mafia that was selling pre-paid cards in the black market, golden numbers and VIP holders. He also stopped overcharging international calls, illegal eavesdropping and the illegal internet network in Barouk, which is affiliated with Israel as well as other illegal practices,” Aoun said. “Participants in the cell phone network increased from 1,200,000 to 2,200,000. He achieved 5 billion LL profits till now”, he added.
“Bassil also created the ‘Call Center’ that increased state revenues by 400 Billion LL,” the FPM leader said.
“Therefore, former Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh has the right to call Bassil the ‘obstructing son-in-law’ for the obstructed stealing and exposed covered schemes,” stressing that the March 14 campaign against Bassil was to cover their lies and problems in forming the Cabinet. “We want a sovereign ministry in addition to the Telecommunications Ministry, which we will not give up.”
Answering a question about MP Saad Hariri, General Aoun said that there is nothing in the law called a prime minister-designate, but rather MP-designate. “What did Hariri do abroad during his trip to Saudi Arabia? Where did he go and with whom did he meet? I do not know,” Aoun wondered.
The General implicitly ruled out a close meeting with Hariri in the near future. "Before meeting with Hariri I need to ask him: Does he control his parliamentary bloc or not. Because if he does then he must be responsible for the campaign against us launched by his bloc members."
Aoun also praised Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, who he consider him like Gebran Bassil; but he criticized the performance of the interior ministry as an institution saying that Baroud is the minister but the tools to run his ministry are not at his hands.
General Aoun also called for enhancing the President of the republic powers stressing that it should the authority to intervene in all ministries, rather than being granted a ministerial share.”
Finally, General Aoun concluded: "I will not relinquish my rights in the government, there is logic, and standards ... Ask the person in charge what are the criteria? I have rights that should be determined in accordance to certain criteria, so where is the node? It is between the United States and Saudi Arabia, Iran and Syria... Ask the persont in charge?”
tayyar.org - Lebanon News -Hariri is a Depute in charge and not a president! Our lunch together will 
17th August 2009
pray to him for accessing the new government 
