Aoun: Opposition Determined to Resort to Vote in Cabinet

09/11/2010 The head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday urged President Michel Sleiman to settle the thorny issue of false witnesses during Wednesday's decisive cabinet session, declaring that the opposition was determined to resort to a vote in the cabinet on referring the false witnesses issue to the Judicial Council.

Asked about the possibility of Premier Saad Hariri's withdrawal from the session should the Opposition insist on voting, Aoun said: "In that case, we'll know that the government is evading its responsibilities and that the cover up the judiciary has been offering to false witnesses is in collaboration with the government."

Aoun, who was speaking to reporters following his parliamentary bloc’s weekly meeting, commented on the issue of the highly-anticipated indictment to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, saying: "We have never demanded the annulment of the tribunal, but we've been always asking for matters that reflect the tribunal's credibility."

"False witnesses were induced by someone and we want to know who was behind them," he added.

Asked about the broad Christian meeting that was held in Bkirki on Friday, Aoun described it as an expression of "premonitions," noting that it was not fit to declare a "call."

"I don't have concerns at all, and I don't need to be afraid of Hezbollah. To those who say that Hezbollah is illegitimate, we say that all the resistance movements on earth are legitimate for the sake of defending one's country," Aoun stressed.

"Since 2006, we've been domestically arguing whether we will defend ourselves, surrender or let the UN, whose decision was defied by Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, defend us."

Aoun described the national dialogue sponsored by President Sleiman as "dysfunctional," saying it "has been revolving around the same issues since four years."

"I don't have any extra time to waste in this regard," the FPM leader declared.

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