Report: March 14 Leaning towards Harb's Nomination for President instead of Geagea

The March 14 alliance is studying the possibility of the nomination of Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb as president instead of its current nominee Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday.

March 14 sources cited the various closed-door meetings among members of the camp and Harb's recent meeting with Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat as signs that the minister may be named as a candidate.

They revealed that officials within the camp are justifying the nomination by noting that Harb will likely garner more votes than Geagea in the elections.

The minister is being touted as a consensual president instead of Geagea, who is viewed by the March 8 camp as provocative figure, added the sources.

The March 8 camp has been demanding that a consensual president be elected as president.

The proposal of Harb as a nominee has not been met with approval by all members of the March 14 alliance, revealed the sources.

Harb stated after his talks with Jumblat on Friday; “The meeting was an occasion to exchange ideas on the means to confront the coming period, after the (parliament's) failure to hold the presidential vote” on Wednesday.”

He said he agreed with the MP on the need to find “new ideas” that might lead to “a certain agreement on holding the presidential vote within the constitutional timeframe.”

The LF bloc meanwhile said that it is still committed to Geagea as the March 14 camp's official nominee.

Sources from the bloc told al-Akhbar: “This is not Geagea's battle, but that of the March 14 camp, especially since he cannot garner any more votes at the elections than he already did in the first round.”

Geagea received 48 votes during the first round of the presidential elections that was held on April 23.

“Geagea will remain the March 14 alliance's only nominee,” stressed the LF sources.

His chances of winning the elections are greater before May 25 than after that date because Lebanon's efforts to hold the elections would return to square one after the country enters presidential vacuum, they warned.

The deadline to elect a new president ends on May 25 amid fears of vacuum in the country's top post over the rival March 8 and 14 camp's failures to agree on a presidential candidate.

The second round was set for Wednesday, but it failed to be staged due to a lack of quorum after the majority of March 8 alliance MPs, except those of Speaker Nabih Berri's Development and Liberation bloc, boycotted the elections.

Geagea slammed the move as undemocratic, accusing the alliance of abusing the constitution and forcing officials to choose between the March 8 candidate or presidential vacuum.

The alliance has yet to announce its candidate for the polls.

M.T.