Change and Reform Says to Vote Blank in Presidential Session
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc led by MP Michel Aoun announced Tuesday that it will cast blank votes in Wednesday's presidential election.
"We have decided to take part in Wednesday's session and we will cast blank votes," MP Emile Rahme said, reciting a terse statement issued after the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh.
Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Tuesday quoted Change and Reform sources as saying that Aoun would not attend the session in person.
It said his lawmakers and their allies in the March 8 alliance are expected to cast white votes to protest the candidacy of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.
The protest votes would be 56 or 57 if the three Tripoli MPs join them, exceeding the votes that Geagea would get from his March 14 alliance by one or two, al-Hayat said.
The Tripoli MPs – former Premier Najib Miqati and former Ministers Mohammed al-Safadi and Ahmed Karami – could resort to another option to vote for the candidate of Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, the daily said.
Reports have said that Jumblat, who heads the centrist National Struggle Front bloc, would on Tuesday announce the candidacy of his bloc member MP Henri Helou.
G.K./Y.R.
D.A./S.D.B.
22 April 2014, 08:26
819
Cry baby.... can't handle real democracy, and upset that his "partner" Hezbollah don't want him as president.
Wah.... If you don't let me win, I'm going to take my ball and go home.
22 April 2014, 08:45
817
I have nothing to comment on this except: he will not attend contrary to what was agreed!
other than that.... he is not worth it.
22 April 2014, 11:02
410
I tried really hard not to comment on this article, however if true surely will be aoun's undoing. Lebanon as a nation is at this very time in a most dangerous position, a position not seen before. We were encouraged by the Hakim's foresight and vision in announcing his presidential program for all to criticise a program which whilst not perfect addresses the reality of current Lebanese demands and challenges. We in turn hoped that others would contribute to this and as a result elect a president whomever it may be that can articulate to the people and international community the direction Lebanon is heading in and this in turn should promote foreign investments amongst many other benefits. What we have here however is old heads with elitist motives not prepared to respect the population that elected with so much as a bone of transparency or goodwill on how they will go about providing for their needs...then again I guess we have been told! the conditions are not ripe..pathetic
22 April 2014, 11:11
124
Le Grand General !! he is greater than the presidency so how can he be placed with others?! all nations will place the red carpet for him soon :)
22 April 2014, 11:36
310
sophia... your words are the words of a 16 years old hysterical fan... ridiculous!
22 April 2014, 12:24
35
let's just place him where he deserves to be placed...garbage mountain in dora...
22 April 2014, 13:47
211
yes, some people never learn flamethrower. They get banned and keep coming back with a new screen name.
22 April 2014, 17:30
39
ft
once in a while I still try to reason with you , and unfortunately it is always a no go.
you talk about democracy? tell us what is this flow of threats coming out of officials of the invading extremist terrorist Iranian militia?
is this the democracy you advocate?
what is OK for your clan to do is normal but denied to others when the table is turned?
you have a special kind of democracy! I believe it is called "oppression" :)
22 April 2014, 11:38
510
lol people power ya zake? the people weren't consulted or given so much as a crumb to consider, as usual flam when democracy is practiced we saw you spitting at Mrs Geagea and everyone else your very intelligent commentary, but when your type of democracy is practiced, that is obstruction,obstruction,obstruction , you raise your people power banner, put on your newly ironed orange shirt and the clapping commences. be proud of your orange leader not backable, not electable and unliked even by his beloved alliance for it is he who is ruining our country, so next time you complain about your electricity,cell bill, or lack of employment opportunities go ask michou for a hand out instead of crying poor on naharnet.
22 April 2014, 08:29
615
Pajama boy for once in your life be a man and take a stance... make a run for the Presidency or put your tail between your legs and get out of the way.
Perfect picture, Aoun's pouting pose.
22 April 2014, 08:54
615
These are the monsters who claim their love for democracy! They betray the trust given to them by the people of Lebanon. Their whole strategy is not to vote for a candidate but instead to show that there are more MPs objecting to Geagea's candidacy than those for his candidacy. If these are indeed representatives of the people, they should go in and vote for whoever candidate they like or want instead of playing these games. The terror party is behind all of this.
22 April 2014, 08:56
610
This jumblatt character represents barely 2% of the population, but manages to employ a presidential candidate? This is ridiculous. Shame on henry Helou to accept.
22 April 2014, 09:01
414
"Aoun Won't Attend Election Session, his MPs to Cast Blank Votes"
His own MPs will not vote for him....hehehehe!
22 April 2014, 09:32
514
I feel the same phil.. All these hypocrites talk about wanting a strong president but their actions do everything but strengthen the presidency. Aoun has damaged the lebanese christians more than anybody else.
22 April 2014, 10:27
510
Aoun wanted consensus around his candidacy... it turns out not ONE party is willing to second it!
22 April 2014, 10:41
510
this coward of a general was born a looser and will die as one .he is afraid of running against Geagea in an election for president.
22 April 2014, 11:05
143
Haram hakim all 14M are with him now knowing that he won't make it...Boya boya boya looll!!
22 April 2014, 11:38
36
FT... no one here wants to ban you... you amuse us all way too much!
22 April 2014, 11:41
36
too late just finished replying and he took off, was it something I said?
22 April 2014, 11:46
36
baaahhh... he probably bans himself so that he can play the victim forces...
22 April 2014, 12:51
39
akh... FT... you play the victim.... Again!
I don't even know how to ban someone, I only report foul & abusive language... no mater who uses it!
Welcome back!
22 April 2014, 15:04
35
FT... calling anyone against Hezbollah an Israeli is stupid and propagandist. I have nothing to do with Israel. Get over it... but then again... you might want to call me Tafkiri, Saudi, Liver eater, etc... suit yourself...
22 April 2014, 15:08
37
Ok idiot, he did not run to france. HE RAN to the french embassy. Does this make you feel any better??
22 April 2014, 17:34
16
have you noticed guys that each day ft shows us more stupid comments than the previous days?
when I read his comments, each day I say to myself this ft cannot say something more stupid, then the next day comes and he does worse than the previous one!
how can he do it? he must have a masters in stupidity :) maybe he got it at the university of aoun or hizbushaitan :)
22 April 2014, 17:58
23
Ya Geha, once I said FT is one of kind, humanity had never seen before. Please respect him.
22 April 2014, 14:12
58
let me get this one right: you are saying your party feels Geagea is being forced on them so they will vote with white papers(Blanks) and they cannot vote for someone other than Geagea. They don't have a candidate of their own, they cannot come up with a candidate of their own because their political opponents have 100,000 rockets and an armed militia and have threatened them with weapons if they nominate a candidate of their own. Yes, it makes full sense(:
22 April 2014, 15:00
22
Vive la democratie Monsieur Aoun !
Sois belle et vote Monsieur Aoun !
You are the perfect example of what is wrong with this country and the dirt and scum that are our politicians.
if you want to protest against Geagea, instead of Boycotting, then just present yourself and have your MPs vote for you !
Oh ... i forget, your partners don't even want to vote for you ! Because even your partners believe you are not fit to be president !
22 April 2014, 15:22
31
@Roar, Geagea doesn't deserve to win !
But Aoun doesn't deserve to be an MP. He doesn't deserve to be back into politics when all he does is obstruct the course of democracy with his terrorist gang Hezbollah.
One who refuses to present himself if he's not the sole candidate is what we "free world" citizens call dictators and what you sheep call god ! Except your god is not almighty and definitely not all good !
Again, it doesn't make sense to Boycott ... just go and vote for yourself ! but vote ! or shut up !
22 April 2014, 16:07
20
If Geagea has no opponent, that's because your M8 alliance of idiots has failed to produce a presidential candidate.
It's because AOUN has failed to gather all the votes he needs.
And there are more than 1 M14 candidate.
And you also have your Frangieh ... what about that ? He's officially a candidate !
22 April 2014, 16:09
20
@Roar "lol imagine no opponents & you still lose"
We lost when we let Hezbollah hold onto its weapons and dictate the political situation in Lebanon to us.
We lost when Aoun allied himself with Hezbollah and Syria, the same people he was fighting all his life.
22 April 2014, 16:23
20
@Roar : I've always said this.
Except he's not true to his word when he allies himself with them and Hezbollah !
Like I always say, I am and always was a Aounist. Aoun is no longer a Aounist and all the true Aounists no longer follow Aoun !
He failed ! He showed his true face ! He's a scam !
22 April 2014, 16:33
20
@Roar, when you listen to Nasrallah, you listen to thieves. When you listen to Aoun, you listen to thieves ... so unless I stole your democracy. Unless I stole your freedom. Unless I stole your sovereignty and sold it back to Syria and Iran, then simply shut up or find another excuse...
22 April 2014, 17:19
20
@Roar ... this is my name ! Deal with it !
Hezbollah stole gods name and used it in their flag and depict him using a kalashnikov. Will they give god back to us ? I don't think so !
Aoun stole the name "General" when he fled the country. Will he be giving the name back ? No ...
And you are trying to steal this debate by evading the question and pointing to ridiculous and irrelevant topics. Will you be answering me ? No ... you will hide your head in the ground as usual or accuse me of stealing "a name" :)
The person who I supposedly stole the name from isn't even pissed so why are you ?
22 April 2014, 17:43
20
@Roar : there is public evidence of transfers of millions of dollars to AOun's Paris bank account when he fled the country. Million she surely inherited from a rich aoun because you don't get rich on a general's salary !
SUE ME FOR DIFFAMATION.
There is evidence and everyone accuses Hezbollah of murdering Hariri. SUE ME AND THEM for diffamation !
Yalla ... let's go to court !
22 April 2014, 15:05
34
@Southern : presenting yourself as a candidate and winning the votes is how normal elections happen !
It's up to the MPs to decide whether or not Geagea is "Wanted" or "unwanted".
So either embrace democracy or take over the country by force using your weapons !
If your plan is to create a presidential void like you did with parliament and goverment, this only shows your true M8 face of being a traitor to Lebanon and it's democracy !
22 April 2014, 16:15
31
@Roar @FC : Please go to Iran where your Ayatollah decides who is allowed to be president or not.
Or go to Syria where presidents are voted with 99% of votes.
In Lebanon, we're still a democratic country where people present themselves as candidates and an actual vote happens.
Whether or not you're happy with the candidates is irrelevant.
In fact, please go ahead and present yourself !
So to Roar : "not an option" ? Thank god you are an insignificant human being and have no power to decide.
to FC : to be or not to be ? This is how Hezbollah solves their problem, let live or kill your opponents right ? Again, go back to Iran if you're idea of politics is "to be or not to be"....
23 April 2014, 00:32
10
Why do you believe Geagea is holding M14 hostage ? No other candidate presented his nomination officially and M14 will most probably vote as one block for a single candidate.
The problem is that M8 so far failed to produce a single candidate meaning Aoun does not enjoy the backing of Hezbollah. This means that despite selling your soul to the devil, you have not collected anything in return and Aoun is humiliated by his partners.
And although Geagea is a convicted murderer, I don't deny you that, he received amnesty for his crimes which he partly paid for when no other leader just as criminal did not. He deserves 1000 lifetimes but so do most of the other politicians !
Now if it were up to me, Aoun and Geagea would be kicked out the country along with about 100 other politicians out of the 128 MPs and a couple of thousand state officials. Now that's the only way to democracy and reuniting christian idiots who fail to unite over their own cause rather than that of others.
22 April 2014, 15:34
33
Geagea FOR PRESIDENT.. and watch him crash and burn,and burn all of lebanon with him.
22 April 2014, 15:44
34
As much as you bag each other on here,day in ,day out. we are all prisoners in our own country ,from the poor kid in street to the prime minister ,president, army general.etc . in this part of the world dictatorship is the only thing that works. democracy in middle east means"lets kill eachother all day everyday forever"
22 April 2014, 15:52
32
It is typical and to be expected. Aoun is an Aounist, not a Lebanese nationalist or patriot. If he cannot have his way, then he withdraws from the national process of selecting national leadership.
He should be a smarter politician who builds bridges and coalitions to parties and personalities who could assist him in his quest for the presidency. Instead, he alienates and polarizes others and then when the crows come home to roost as a result of his politik, then he takes his marbles and goes home. This is not a politician, he is not even a good person.
23 April 2014, 05:57
10
FT, you should read a post before commenting. Where on my post did I say who Aoun should support?? I assume your derogatory references were to Geaga. If you read my posts I don't think Geagea can win. I have supported Baroud. Aoun has as much a chance as Geagea. But at least Geagea engages the process, even with only 50 votes. Unless you engage, you cannot effect the outcome. So now about read the post before coming forth with your knee jerk reactions.
22 April 2014, 17:08
33
@PL
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience
22 April 2014, 18:35
30
Henri Helou is kin to a former Lebanese President, Charles Helou and is part of Jumblatt's bloc. He has about as much a chance of winning the Lebanese presidency as I do.
23 April 2014, 12:48
01
Roar, this is Al Fanik Maarouf, or Al Banik Maarouf cloning me. Something to do with the Easter eggs he ate, the family is growing, growing.
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