Berri Replies to Aoun, Says Seniority Decree 'Violates' Constitution
Speaker Nabih Berri's media office replied on Monday to President Michel Aoun's remarks over a controversial decree granting seniority to a number of officers stressing that the act “flagrantly violates Articles 54, 56 of the Constitution.”
The statement from Berri's office said: “What happened regarding the decree crisis is not a legal problem to be challenged before the Shura Council. It is a flagrant violation of constitutional rules and of Articles 54 and 56 of the Constitution.”
The statement added: “As the honorable Presidency knows, it is virtuous to rectify mistakes if they can not be reversed.”
Berri's remarks came shortly after a similar statement released by the Presidency' media office affirming Aoun's “commitment to the judiciary's decision on said decree.”
Aoun's statement said :”The judiciary is the appropriate reference to resolve disputes arising on the legality of decrees and procedures issued by the executive authority.”
Aoun had many times noted the decree, which has sparked a row between him and Berri, is “lawful,” asking those who have reservations to “go to the judiciary.”
Berri on the other hand believes that “those whose constitutional argument is weak would resort to the judiciary.”
The Aoun-Berri spat broke out after the president and the premier signed a decree granting one-year seniority to a number of officers. Berri and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil have insisted that the decree should have also carried the finance minister's signature.
Aoun and his aides have argued that the decree did not require Khalil's signature because it did not entail any “financial burden,” a point Berri and officials close to him have argued against.
Ain el-Tineh sources have meanwhile warned that the decree would tip sectarian balance in favor of Christians in the army's highest echelons.
The officers in question were undergoing their first year of officer training at the Military Academy when Syrian forces ousted Aoun’s military government from Baabda in 1990. They were suspended by the pro-Damascus authorities until 1993 before they resumed their officer training course as second-year cadets.
Article 54 of the Lebanese Constitution states that the decisions of the President must be countersigned by the PM and the Minister or Ministers concerned except the decree designating a new PM and the decree accepting the resignation of the Cabinet or considering it resigned. Decrees issuing laws must be countersigned by the Prime Minister.
Source: Naharnet
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://mobile.naharnet.com/stories/en/240567 |