Is Aoun”s parliamentary coalition falling apart ?
Aoun”s parliamentary coalition is falling apart. This was confirmed when MP Michel Murr , a leading member of General Michel Aoun”s Change and Reform parliamentary block decided to take a different position in regards to the presidential elections.
Murr, father of Defense Minister Elias Murr announced Friday from Bkirki that he would support any president chosen from a list drawn up by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir even if Aoun and Hezbollah did not agree with him on the name.
Murr said he and at least seven MPs from Aoun”s Change and Reform Bloc would attend Wednesday”s session to “elect a compromise president chosen by Berri, Hariri and the patriarch.”
Another leading member of Aoun”s coalition sided with Murr with regards to the presidential elections:
A statement issued by MP Elie Skaff”s Popular Bloc stressed that Bkirki”s commitment to its fundamentals “promoted consensus” over the next president.
It said efforts to find a compromise president have reached a “turning point … when Speaker Berri and MP Hariri paved the way for a constitutional election session which requires agreement in advance between the (government) loyalists and the opposition on a name and cannot go straight to parliament unless consensus was achieved.”
Aoun , who attacked Sfeir”s list even before it was issued, had threatened to block a two-third quorum to elect a new head of state for Lebanon if the president-to-be did not enjoy popular backing and urged deputies from his Change and Reform Bloc to boycott Wednesday”s session set to elect a new head of state.
“We will not support any president, not even if elected by a two-third quorum, if he does not enjoy popular support,” Aoun had said.
Aoun did not define “popular support”. Aoun once had popular support , but that was before joining the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah-led coalition. Aoun is blamed for providing a Christian cover for Hezbollah to initiate the summer war with Israel, a war which resulted in the killing of 1200 Lebanese , mainly civilians, the destruction of over 120, 000 houses and apartments…over 1 million Lebanese became homeless refugees in heir own country and Lebanon was left in ruins. As if the war was not enough , Aoun joined Hezbollah – led opposition in their protest to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora , an act that destroyed the economy of the country, but failed in bringing down the government , because of the popular support it enjoys.
According to political analyst Sami Haddad ” Aoun is considered the most polarizing figure in the Lebanese politics and therefore has absolutely no chance for consideration as a consensus president for Lebanon.”