AOUN INSISTS SON-IN-LAW MUST GET TELECOMS POST
Mitchell Prothero, mprothero@thenational.ae

The National
August 17. 2009 10:51PM UAE

BEIRUT // An impasse over the formation of Lebanon’s new cabinet turned
ugly and personal yesterday as a key opposition leader declared that a
partial defection from the majority alliance had rendered the coalition
illegitimate and charged his opponents with making personal attacks.

Michel Aoun told reporters in a press conference that the attacks on
the former telecommunications minister, Jibran Bassil, by the majority
were personal and that his son-in-law should be returned to his post.

The majority alliance, led by the prime minister designate, Saad
Hariri, has refused to accept Mr Bassil for any cabinet position
because they want their own candidates to run the most lucrative
ministry in Lebanon. Mr Hariri’s bloc, known as "March 14", also
claims that Mr Bassil’s loss in the parliamentary elections should
disqualify him from such a high-profile ministry.

"I am proud of him [Bassil] as an [party] activist since 1999, as my
son-in-law and as a minister," Mr Aoun told a press conference at his
home north of Beirut, arguing that attacks on Mr Bassil’s record as
minister are baseless.

"If they criticise him, then they are criticising me," said Mr Aoun,
who further claimed that the former minister’s time in office "put
an end to stealing and stopped the mafia within the telecom ministry".

Mr Aoun appeared furious about recent claims by March 14 supporters
that Mr Bassil is linked to an internet service provider in the Barouk
region of Lebanon that appears to have been compromised by Israeli
intelligence gathering. The owner of the accused company is a top
opposition official in the Armenian Tashnaq party, which is an ally
of Mr Aoun’s party.

Mr Aoun denounced Mr Hariri’s efforts to form a cabinet with an
allocation of seats designed to allow the opposition the right to
veto major legislation. The Hizbollah-led opposition insisted on
a power-sharing agreement that allocates 15 cabinet seats to the
majority, ten to the opposition and five independent ministers loyal
to the president, Michel Suleiman. But in the wake of Druze leader
Walid Jumblatt’s decision to withdraw from the March 14 alliance,
Mr Aoun has claimed that the formula is no longer acceptable.

"You do the math, and you will see that the formula has become
12-10-5-3," Mr Aoun said, with the last three seats going to Mr
Jumblatt, who has repeatedly denied he is joining the opposition.

Efforts by Mr Hariri to resolve a disagreement that could quickly
turn into a feud have included an invitation to Mr Aoun to meet for
a lunch, but the personal attacks on Mr Bassil seem to have left the
former army chief of staff in no mood for reconciliation.

On Monday, Mr Aoun said he would not meet with Mr Hariri until the
latter "stops his crazy [supporters] from attacking me".

Although they are nominally in the same opposition alliance, Hizbollah
appears to have solidified its cabinet positions and seems to have
little enthusiasm for supporting Mr Aoun in his battle with Mr Hariri,
according to a supporter of Mr Hariri.

Mustafa Alloush, a former MP, said that there was no disagreement
with Hizbollah or its allies, the Amal Movement, over the make-up
of the cabinet but that the fight with Mr Aoun was likely to scuttle
the chances of a government being formed in the immediate future.

"There will be no government formation any time soon, not even after
Ramadan," he told The National.

"The real problem is Jibran Bassil," he added. "Aoun is impeding
the cabinet formation because he insists on the reappointment of his
son-in-law, [the former] telecommunications minister Jibran Bassil
without anyone attacking him for it."

"The national and personal issues are one in the same," he
added. "Nobody was attacking Aoun. We were just describing the
situation. All that we were saying was that the cabinet formation is
impeded because he wants his son-in-law to be reappointed as minister,
and his speech today confirmed this reality."