Lebanon is likely to enter a dangerous security vacuum as the term of Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi’s comes to a close and a Parliamentary boycott continues to stifle attempts to extend his tenure, Lebanon’s Daily Star quoted Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad as saying Monday.

“We are headed toward a critical stage of a security vacuum when the Army commander’s term ends in September,” Raad said at a memorial service in south Lebanon.

“If a new [Army] chief is not appointed or the present commander’s mandate has not been extended, the Army will be an institution with no command,” added Raad, head of the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc.

“A resigned government cannot appoint an army commander,” he argued.

Raad said that the Lebanese Army must be preserved or Lebanon “will fall into a security vacuum.” He did not indicate whether Hezbollah will try to fill said vacuum.