BEIRUT: Lebanon plunged into a Cabinet crisis Wednesday after Prime Minister Najib Mikati abruptly ended a government session over sharp differences with ministers from Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc over the thorny issue of civil service appointments.

Denying plans to resign or to suspend his activities as premier, Mikati told Twitter followers shortly after the session he would remain positive and engaged: “There is a lot that needs to done for the country: enough populism.”

The heated argument broke out during the session after Change and Reform bloc ministers objected to President Michel Sleiman proposing candidates for the post of the head of the High Disciplinary Committee and the government representative at this committee. The two posts are affiliated with the prime minister’s office.

In wake of the heated debate, Sleiman suspended the Cabinet session on the request of Mikati.

In comments on Twitter, Mikati said that “the suspension of the council of ministers session today falls within the PM’s constitutional prerogatives especially when there’s quorum.”

“The move is meant to push everyone to act responsibly and use their energy positively toward the smooth run of the social affairs not the opposite,” he added.

Mikati called upon everyone to grow beyond political bickering, quarrels and overbidding.

During the session, Mikati proposed appointing Judge Elie Bekhaazi for the post of the head of the High Disciplinary Committee, traditionally reserved for Greek Catholics after discussing with Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi the name along with that of judges Nada Asmar and Sabah Suleiman.

He also nominated Odette Antoun as the government representative at the committee after saying that he also discussed three names with Qortbawi.

Ministerial sources from the Change and Reform bloc told The Daily Star that the bloc’s ministers voiced their objection since Qortbawi proposed the names of the three Greek Catholic judges but was not informed about the post they would occupy. The sources also said the ministers had been outraged by the fact that the Cabinet did not first tackle naming the head of the Higher Judicial Council, as Aoun insists. Aoun and Sleiman are at loggerheads over who will be appointed in the post.

According to the same sources, Bassil called upon Sleiman to put these names to a Cabinet vote, which was rejected by the president. The sources said that Sleiman suspended the session in agreement with Mikati, to protest the Change and Reform bloc’s insistence on putting the matter to a vote.

However, sources close to Mikati said that Change and Reform bloc ministers voiced their opposition to bringing up the issue of appointments in principle during the session, in a bid to stall the work of the Cabinet.

According to the sources, Mikati said during the session that some political factions have the intention of blocking the Cabinet’s activities and at the same time accuse the Cabinet of being unproductive.

Ministerial sources told The Daily Star that a possible solution to the crisis would be to reach an agreement on all the appointments in the public sector, but added however that this process might take a long time.

The sources said that the crisis would be harmful to Mikati, who will pay an official visit to France on Feb.9.

Asked by reporters about what happened during the session on his way out of Baabda Palace, Mikati said: “His Excellency [Sleiman] asked me not to disclose what happened.”

Separately, the Cabinet unanimously agreed to form a committee to be headed by Mikati to discuss amending Law 240 on wiretapping and to prepare a mechanism to regulate the work of the wiretapping command center.

The law currently permits telecoms data to be transferred to state security bodies, and the information is restricted to the location and movements of a caller in a certain area.

Recent leaks of an alleged plot to assassinate a high-level security official, possibly head of the Internal Security Forces’ Information Branch, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, have highlighted the issue of telecoms data, which enables the tracking of telephone communications.

The committee comprises Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Qortbawi, Telecoms Minister Nicholas Sehnaoui and Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn.

From now until it finishes its work, providing data covering the entire country can only take place at the request of the country’s highest judicial bodies, such as the public prosecutor, the Shura Council or the Higher Judicial Council.