Minister Bassil from Rabieh: Change and Reform bloc MPs to boycott Thursday’s Cabinet session

Free Patriotic Movement leader Minister of Foreign Affairs Gebran Bassil declared on Tuesday that the Change and Reform bloc MPs will boycott Thursday’s cabinet session “as a warning for the government.”

 
“Will our partners in the country accept a government that governs in the absence of Christians,” Bassil asked following the bloc’s weekly meeting in Rabieh.

 

He also warned that the country might “face a political system crisis after Thursday's session.”

 

The Change and Reform bloc's move came in protest at term extensions for military and security chiefs.

 

Last week, Minister of Defense Samir Moqbel took a decision to extend the​ mandate of Major General Mohammad Kheir, the secretary-general of the Higher Defense Council, by one year, ​despite a strong opposition by FPM ministers.

 

​He also hinted that he would ​extend Army commander General Jean Kahwagi’s ​mandate, which is set to expire September 30.