Aoun finally admits he may not leave Baabda presidential palace

Outgoing President Michel Aoun has finally admitted that he might not leave the Baabda Palace upon the end of his presidential term on October 31.

“This (caretaker) government is not eligible to assume my powers after the end of my term, and I consider that it does not enjoy the national legitimacy to replace the president of the republic,” Aoun said in an interview with the Lebanese newspaper al-Joumhouria

“That’s why if no president is elected and if no government is formed before October 31, there will be a question mark over my next step and over the decision that I might take,” Aoun added.

The president also warned that his rivals are “tampering with the delicate balances that characterize this country.”

Aoun who has reportedly been for months obstructing the formation of a government with his impossible demands said he is “ready to cooperate to form a government immediately.”

Aoun warned that the current government might not have “the ability to confront the coming period and all its challenges,” adding that he would accept keeping the current government on the condition of introducing changes to it.

He did not spell out the kind of changes he is proposing , but one of the changes he proposed and was rejected by PM designate Najib Mikati was to add 6 state ministerial posts . In other words 6 more ministers who will not be assigned any ministry in a country that is bankrupt.

“The chance to form a new government is still there , and I call on PM-designate (Najib) Mikati to seize it and deal with it in a serious manner,” Aoun added

Aoun stressed that a new president should be elected within the constitutional timeframe,

Commenting on his relation with Hezbollah, Aoun said his presidential term and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil “paid the price” for this relation. He did not elaborate

“This relation was established for the sake of Lebanon… and we do not regret it ” He stressed

But he pointed out that Hezbollah “did not support” him on some key issues, “especially the issues of electricity and combating corruption.”

Retired top Security official General Khaled Hemaded predicted last month during an interview that the aging Aoun ( 87) is not planning to leave the Baabda presidential palace when his term expires on October 31, 2022 and it seems that it took Aoun less than one month to prove Hemaded predictions

Hamadeh predicted that Aoun will repeat the 1988 scenario 

On 22 September 1988, 15 minutes before the expiration of his term, the former outgoing president Amine Gemayel appointed Aoun as Prime Minister, heading a military government formed by six members of the Martial Court, three of which were Christian and three were Muslims.

The legitimacy of this appointment was disputed, however, because it violated the 1943 National Pact, an unwritten agreement among Lebanon’s confessional communities whereby the prime minister must be Sunni Muslim. 

Aoun’s Free patriotic Movement confirmed General Hamade’s prediction 2 days after he revealed them

A senior Free Patriotic Movement official was quoted as saying by al-Akhbar newspaper , a Hezbollah linked daily

“We will not accept, in any way, the remaining of the caretaker cabinet should we reach presidential vacuum” 

Sources told Kuwaiti “al-Anbaa” newspaper : “We fear that Aoun will appoint ( his on-in-law ) Gebran Bassil as head of a transitional government at the last moment, regardless of the constitution and customs.”