by naharnet.com — The Presidency’s press office on Tuesday noted that claims that President Michel Aoun has violated the Constitution “weaken the Lebanese position” in the border demarcation negotiations with Israel. “To date, the President has not signed or ratified any international treaty in order to agree on it with the Premier,” the office said in a statement. “Any other remarks distort the Constitution and are aimed at either misinformation or, what’s worse, weakening the Lebanese stance at the wrong moment, seeing as Lebanon is going to practical and technical negotiations over the demarcation of its maritime border to preserve its natural resources and sovereignty over every inch of its land and waters,” the office said. It added: “Enough with polemics in the era of seriousness and we direly need solidarity and national cohesion for the sake of preserving or recapturing our sovereign rights.” The Premiership had said Monday that Aoun had made a “clear and blatant violation of a constitutional text” by not coordinating with caretaker PM Hassan Diab in the formation of the team that will handle the negotiations.

BEIRUT: After decades of conflict, Lebanon and Israel are set for the first round of talks over their maritime border that runs through potentially oil- and gas-rich Mediterranean waters. The US-mediated meeting between officials from both sides will be held at the headquarters of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Wednesday. This will be followed by talks on demarcating the land border. David Schenker, US undersecretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, will preside over the inaugural session of the maritime talks, according to the State Department. Beirut insists that these talks “have nothing to do with normalization” of ties with Israel. The four-member Lebanese delegation headed by air force Brig. Gen. Bassam Yassin. The three other members are navy Col. Mazen Basbous, Lebanese oil official Wissam Chbat and border expert Najib Massihi. Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz will lead the Israeli delegation, according to Israeli officials.

 Bassil Slams Hariri’s ‘Bravados’, Proposes Constitutional Amendment

by naharnet.com – Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday hit out at ex-PM Saad Hariri and proposed a constitutional amendment related to the designation of premiers and the formation of cabinets. “He who wants to head a government of specialists must be the first specialist or must make way for a specialist. And he who wants to head a government of politicians has the right to do so if he is the first politician, while he who likes to mix between both must know how to do the mixture, but without outsmarting attempts and media bravados,” Bassil said in a speech marking the anniversary of President Michel Aoun’s ouster from the Baabda Palace as the head of a military government on October 13, 1990.

Criticizing both Hariri and the club of ex-PMs as well as the Shiite duo over the failure to form a government after Mustafa Adib’s designation as PM, Bassil said a camp sought to “seize a ministerial portfolio in breach of norms and the Constitution” as another tried to “monopolize all ministerial portfolios in breach of all norms and without possessing any parliamentary or National Pact-related majority.” He added: “The clash over power and fear of the other is big to the extent that the two camps are willing to torpedo the chance to rescue the country in return for making the gain of preserving their positions in the system.” He also stressed that the “ultimate priority” today is to “stop the financial and economic collapse and form a government that would accomplish this mission and prevent the descent of the country into chaos and sedition.”

Separately, Bassil said the Strong Lebanon bloc will propose a constitutional amendment that would grant the president of the republic a one-month deadline to call for consultations to name a new PM and a similar deadline to the PM-designate to form a cabinet. “There is no possibility to continue living with this rancid and rotten constitution which was imposed on us through tanks. It exhausted us through corruption and now it wants to end us through paralysis and slow death!” Bassil said. “Constitutions can be amended, especially if they generate problems instead of solutions. There is a mechanism to amend and improve our constitution without wars but rather through understanding!” he added.

The FPM chief also lashed out at the Lebanese Forces in connection with the October 17, 2019 uprising and some security incidents. “There is a security problem because we started witnessing scenes of security chaos after October 17,” Bassil said. “We witnessed systematic blocking of roads, deployment operations, paramilitary marches and threatening messages all the way to the Mirna Chalouhi (standoff between supporters of the LF and the FPM),” Bassil added. “Seizing control of our society through force is prohibited! There is no problem in doing so through peaceful means and democracy,” the FPM chief went on to say, addressing the LF.