Report: Bkirki Seeks to Hold Maronite Summit, Shies Away from Naming Presidential Candidate

Bkirki is seeking to strike a deal between the top four Maronite politicians in the country on the presidential elections but it is shying away from naming its candidate for the top post, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is keen on avoiding a vacuum at Baabda Palace after President Michel Suleiman rejected an extension and stressed that he would leave his post at the end of his term on May 4, it said.

A Bkirki committee made up of representatives of the top four Christian parties, and which holds routine meetings at the seat of the Maronite church under bishop Samir Mazloum, is seeking to unite the viewpoints of the four politicians on the elections.

It prefers that the electoral race becomes limited to Phalange leader Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and the head of Marada movement, Suleiman Franjieh, An Nahar said.

Bkirki is convinced that the person who is most popular and enjoys a wide-range of parliamentary representation, would have a performance better than a president who has no popular base, it said.

Out of his concern on the presidential post, al-Rahi is seeking to hold a a summit among the four politicians. He discussed the issue in a telephone conversation with Geagea last week, An Nahar said.

He also told a member of Aoun's Change and Reform parliamentary bloc that he would tackle the matter with the FPM chief upon his return from Rome, the newspaper added.