Report: Officers Decree Row Wavering between Breakthrough and Setback

The row between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri over the signing of a decree promoting a number of officers will not “prolong for long” and will “hopefully” reach a positive outcome because the Premier fears it would cast a shadow on the government’s performance, the Kuwait al-Anbaa daily reported on Sunday.

The daily quoted sources close to Prime Minister Saad Hariri who spoke on condition of anonymity, they said: “The disputed decree granting seniority to officers of the 1994 Session will hopefully reach a positive result anytime now. It is unreasonable for the relation between the two men to remain confusing. It could impact the government's work which Hariri is keen on distancing from political bickering.”

Meanwhile, MP Mohammed Hajjar told the daily in an interview that “Hariri is determined to find a solution for the row because he realizes the threats could affect the whole country and government.”

Hajjar stressed that Hariri plans to “intensify consultations next week in a bid to reach results that please both parties.”

He pointed out that the situation in the country “does not bear more complications,” which may threaten the existing political settlement.

Berri has stressed earlier that he will not change his stance over the decree even if he loses the support of all parties who currently share his viewpoint. He warned that the crisis could protract until the parliamentary elections in May.

The spat between the Speaker and President Michel Aoun 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.