Aoun says Cabinet group paralyzing work of government

The Daily Star
In this picture released by the Free Patriotic Movement media office, FPM leader Michel Aoun speaks during the weekly meeting of his bloc in Rabieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. (Charbel Nakhoul/The Daily Star, HO)
In this picture released by the Free Patriotic Movement media office, FPM leader Michel Aoun speaks during the weekly meeting of his bloc in Rabieh, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011. (Charbel Nakhoul/The Daily Star, HO)

BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement head MP Michel Aoun accused a group in the Cabinet Saturday of disrupting the work of his ministers and said the current electricity crisis was a result of an accumulation of years of neglect to the sector.

“It is true that today we are the majority in Cabinet but we are only 10 out of 20 and we have discovered that a group was formed within the Cabinet to paralyze our plans and disrupt our work,” Aoun told reporters upon his arrival at the Maronite Archbishopric of Zahle.

Aoun has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Najib Mikati, ministers loyal to Progressive Socialist Party head MP Walid Jumblatt and ministers loyal to President Michel Sleiman as disrupting work of the government.

Aoun is on a three-day visit to east Lebanon where he met Saturday with Bishop Mansour Hobeika and a number of priests at the archbishopric.

He also said projects that his party had proposed were aimed at developing various parts of the country, and not just the Lebanese capital.

“Raise your voices via the media or in electoral boxes, express yourselves through all means. This is what supports us, particularly that we face daily attacks, ” Aoun added.

As for the severe power cuts sweeping the country in the past few weeks, Aoun defended Energy Minister Gebran Bassil, also an FPM member, and blamed previous governments for failing to address the problems of the sector.

“This is a 20-year-old inheritance. The electricity did not go off when I came,” he said.

“This issue is going to take some time [to resolve],” Aoun added.

At the Syriac Archbishopric Aoun also spoke about Christians in Syria and Lebanon and said those in Syria would witness a happy conclusion to the unrest but that it would come with sacrifices.

As for those in Lebanon, Aoun said that his party was working on a draft law to increase the number of MPs from “smaller sects,” including from the Syriac community.

“I have always considered Christians to be united. It is not enough to reach unity but to actually live it. If they pray a lot for unity, they’re going to believe they’re divided,” he said.

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(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)