BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri questioned reasons behind a boycott of Parliament and a campaign against the Army, saying Wednesday the two are part of the same issue.
“The most dangerous [thing] facing us today is this attack on the Lebanese Army by some and this suspicious campaign,” lawmakers quoted Berri as saying after attending a weekly meeting in Ain el-Tineh.
“What are the goals behind attacking the military institution in this particular instance when we are in desperate need of [the Army's] role in preserving security and stability in the country?” Berri was quoted as saying.
March 14 lawmakers, Michel Aoun’s bloc as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati boycotted a Parliament session Tuesday, protesting the 45 items on its agenda.
March 14 claims that since there is no sitting government, Parliament should only convene to discuss the urgent matter of the term extension of Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi who will be required to retire in September.
Aoun and his lawmakers are boycotting Parliament because they oppose Kahwagi's extension all together.
The Future Movement has asked for a thorough investigation into last month’s clashes between the Army and Salafist gunmen, arguing that Hezbollah members fought along with the military and that misconduct by some soldiers should be probed.
The Army has said it was fighting in the coastal city of Sidon alone.
During his meeting with lawmakers, Berri described the attack on the Army as well as the disruption of Parliament as two faces of one coin and “suspicious in its goals and reasons."
He warned against continuing such a campaign against the military, saying it could push the country toward more security deterioration.
