Extending the legal age of leaders in Lebanon. Has politics gone beyond the wishes of the military?

Army Commander General Joseph Aoun and security chiefs extended for one year in Lebanon (Anadolu Agency)

BEIRUT — After a long process of political tussles, the Lebanese parliament on Friday approved a draft law extending the legal retirement age for security chiefs and extending army chief General Joseph Aoun and security chiefs for a year, avoiding the army-led vacancy at a highly sensitive moment after the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, which sparked a confrontation between Hezbollah and the occupation forces along the border between Lebanon and Israel. The post of Chief of Staff, who commands the armed forces, remains vacant.

Joseph Aoun's name was on the list of candidates for the presidency of the republic, as a third candidate who is not directly affiliated with any party, after the parliament was unable in June 2023 to elect one of the candidates: the candidate of Hezbollah and its allies, the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Frangieh, and the candidate of the Lebanese Forces Party and its allies from the opposition forces, former minister and official in the International Monetary Fund, Jihad Azour.

General Aoun was supposed to be dismissed on the tenth of January 2024 upon reaching retirement age, which would have affected, according to observers, his presidential chances, which are linked to a number of factors, most notably that he heads the highest security position allocated to the Maronite community and a military institution that enjoys the consensus of the Lebanese.

As a result of the parliamentary law, officers with the rank of brigadier general and major general were extended to the army commander and the director general of the Internal Security Forces, Imad Othman.

Between rejection and neutrality

The extension of General Aoun is the first legal action for parliament at this level, after it was not possible to appoint a new army commander, due to the presidential vacancy that has been ongoing since October 2022, which had previously hindered, for example, the appointment of an original governor of the Banque du Liban to succeed Riad Salameh and an original director of General Security to succeed Major General Abbas Ibrahim.

The head of the National Movement, Gebran Bassil, was the most prominent opponent of Aoun's extension, and fought a political battle against him, and many put it in the framework of his quest to hit Aoun's presidential chances.

While Hezbollah's neutrality between not supporting the extension and not fighting it remained worrying for its ally Bassil, especially since the leader of the Amal Movement and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri (an ally of Hezbollah) is the godfather of the decision to postpone the demobilization in coordination with Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt, and General Aoun received the absolute support of the Lebanese Forces and its allies.

This is in addition to the support for his survival at the helm of the military by external powers, most notably the United States, France and some Arab countries.

While Hezbollah MPs withdrew from the parliament session without obstructing its quorum, Berri said, "All Lebanese are with the Lebanese army and no one is bidding on the other. Parliament can only play its part. We are coming for a festive period, and unless we do this work today, we are afraid of entering a vacuum."

In practice, the army, which includes about 80,2019 personnel, plays the most prominent role in maintaining security internally, enjoys Arab and Western confidence, and its forces are deployed in the border areas from north to south. But he complains about the repercussions of the economic collapse since the fall of 90, which has eroded more than <>% of the value of the salaries of its members, while the army leadership relies to ensure its continuity at various levels, on in-kind and foreign cash assistance from several countries, most notably the United States and Qatar.

What about the legality of the extension?

Constitutional and legal expert lawyer Paul Morcos considers that the parliament's adoption of this law is a legal step within its powers. And the possibility of MPs opposed to the extension, led by Bassil bloc, appeal the decision, answers Morcos for Al Jazeera Net "challenge the law is possible before the Constitutional Council, but invalidated difficult, because it is technically immune, as it is based on the need legislative estimated by the House of Representatives."

Morcos considers that after the extension of the army commander, the reflection of the vacancy in the chief of staff is inferior, due to the presence of the commander. "But it restricts the commander's travel movements, for example, on the grounds that there is no one to replace him when he is away," he said.

In the same context, military and strategic expert Brigadier General Khaled Hamada explained that what happened in parliament is not the postponement of demobilization, because it is not a decision issued by the Minister of Defense under Article 55 of the National Defense Law, whose conditions do not apply to the approaching date of reaching the age limit for the army commander.

Khaled Hamada explains to Al Jazeera Net "It is an extension by raising the ceiling of the legal age for officers at the ranks of Imad and Major General for one year and once. Subsequently, the decision included all officers of the security services, with the rank of major general (the retirement age was raised from 59 to 60 years) and brigadier generals (from 60 to 61 years)."

Lawyer Paul Morcos: Challenging the law is possible before the Constitutional Council, but its annulment is difficult (Al Jazeera)

Glitch in the army?

On the other hand, the same military expert records the existence of an existing defect in the army's regulations due to the vacancy in the position of the Chief of Staff, after the former Chief of Staff, Major General Amin al-Aram, was retired about a year ago.

Contrary to the trader, Brigadier General Hamada explains that the role of the Chief of Staff goes beyond the task of acting on behalf of the army commander when he is absent and outside the country, pointing out that the most important link in the command system is the Chief of Staff supervising the work of the General Staff that he heads, and prepares decisions for the army commander after the General Staff performs its role.

Brigadier General Hamada believes that the absence of the Chief of Staff means the absence of an essential link in leadership and in the decision-making mechanism.

The same spokesman believes that the army institution is cohesive despite the circumstances that contributed to weakening its readiness and the political and security conditions, and concludes by saying, "Parliament found this way out after the government was unable to appoint a new commander and a new chief of staff." After the extension, Hamada said the government is likely to appoint a new chief of staff and fill military vacancies.

Brigadier General Khalil Hamadeh: Parliament approved the law to extend the retirement age after the government was unable to appoint a new army commander (Al Jazeera)

Political and presidential backgrounds

Writer and political analyst Ali Hamadeh believes that Aoun's extension means keeping the old one on its feet in a very vibration, volatile and dangerous phase, and "Lebanon needs a minimum level of stability in security institutions, especially the army."

He finds that the battle was characterized by personalism, and that the winner was the army first because it avoided shaking the vacancy in the shadow of the events in the south.

Politically, the winner, according to the analyst, is the group of parties and forces opposed to Hizbullah, which fought the battle based on Western and Arab support enjoyed by Aoun, and scored a point in its favor in two directions: the first against Bassil and his team, and the second, in the goal of the candidacy of former MP Suleiman Frangieh, "because the mere fact that Joseph Aoun stays for an additional year, means that he remains as the main candidate, and poses a danger and challenge to all other nominations."

The third and most important winner, in his opinion, "is Hezbollah, because it has proven its role in legislation, and if the party had chosen direct and clear obstruction, Aoun would not have been extended."

Hamada said the parliament's move has several repercussions, "as it leads to hitting the chances of direct officers in hierarchy, especially those who were qualified to command the army and the chief of staff".

He added that General Aoun's stay may reflect positively on the army's reality at the border, because he enjoys the confidence of the international community, as well as the confidence of Hizbullah relatively, "as Aoun is capable of playing within the limits of the Lebanese equation".

Presidential Ali Hamada finds that the extension of Aoun does not mean the need to increase his presidential chances, because putting his name seriously will be either a settlement that satisfies all forces, or a partial settlement, "and the façade against him may be Bassil's team boycotting, and Hezbollah abstaining from voting for him, in exchange for formulating a settlement through the Amal movement as a strong Shiite party, and the rest of the parties in parliament." The key word, in his opinion, remains with the decision of the duo of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, who have not yet abandoned Frangieh's candidacy."

Source : Al Jazeera