Bkirki: All Four Maronite Leaders are Candidates in Presidential Elections
A meeting of Maronite leaders held at Bkirki on Friday stressed the need to hold the presidential elections on time and according to the constitution, it said in a statement on Saturday.
A Bkirki media spokesman told reporters that all four of the Maronite leaders, Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel, and Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh are candidates in the elections.
“The gatherers urged the need to elect a president who holds Lebanon's interests at heart and who can effectively carry out his national duties,” he said in a statement.
“They will oppose any concession or settlement that will undermine Lebanon's interests,” he added.
The Christian leaders will continue to follow up on developments linked to the polls with Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.
The seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki witnessed Friday evening a meeting between top Maronite leaders, amid the absence of Geagea for “security reasons.”
Bkirki's spokesman said on Saturday that the LF chief informed al-Rahi that he will consent to what the gatherers agree on.
Al-Rahi on Tuesday announced that he will not nominate a certain candidate for the presidency, calling for the election of a president who is able to “heal the rifts” among the Lebanese.
“We're working with everyone to secure holding the presidential vote on time. MPs have a two-month deadline to elect a president and nothing prevents holding the first session to elect the president on Monday,” al-Rahi said.
President Michel Suleiman's tenure ends in May 2014 but the constitutional period to elect a new head of state begins on March 25.
Geagea announced Friday that Speaker Nabih Berri will call for a parliamentary session to elect a new president once a delegation he has tasked to communicate with all parties finishes its mission.
Al-Rahi had urged Berri to convene a legislative session as soon as possible to elect a new head of state.
The patriarch will be the only religious leader with whom Berri's envoys would meet given that the 1943 power-sharing agreement states the president should be a Maronite.
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