The security situation in Lebanon is “under control,” Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said after FPM leader Michel Aoun threatened street protests after the government ignored his request to discuss key security and military appointments.
“The security situation is under control,” Machnouk said in remarks published Tuesday by local newspaper An-Nahar.
“Law protects political action,” he said concerning Aoun’s planned street protests. “There is no problem in any peaceful demonstration.”
Aoun has called on his supporters to stage street demonstrations against the government for passing a decree last week allotting $21 million to help export agricultural and industrial products by sea, while ignoring the FPM’s demand to discuss the appointment of senior military and security officers.
The FPM leader said his supporters have begun preparations for street protests in Mount Lebanon and the northern part of the country.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam has scheduled a Cabinet meeting for Thursday despite the conflict that erupted with the FPM’s two ministers over the passing of the decree on supporting industrial exports.
All signs indicate that the Cabinet session will witness a new confrontation between FPM ministers and their allies on the one hand, and Salam and the majority of the ministers on the other, similar to the split that cast the Cabinet into disarray last week. FPM officials said the party’s ministers and their allies would try to prevent the passing of any decree before the issue of military and security appointments is addressed.
