March 14 Alliance Mulling Another Candidate for Presidency
The March 14 alliance is mulling to adopt the candidacy of another official in the run for presidency after Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea failed to garner the required parliamentary votes.
Sources close to the coalition said in remarks published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that the March 14 leadership is reconsidering its options after the first round of voting.
The sources said that the March 14 camp is seeking to push forward the candidacy of Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel in the second round after Geagea failed to earn 86 votes, which the winning candidate will need to guarantee victory.
The parliament failed to elect a new president on Wednesday, with no candidate securing the two-thirds of the votes needed to win and many lawmakers leaving their ballots blank.
Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi, who is loyal to Gemayel, told As Safir newspaper that the party will propose to the alliance the candidacy of the Kataeb chief.
“The March 14 coalition will hold consultations in the upcoming few days ahead of the second parliamentary session on Wednesday to unify its stance,” Qazzi added.
For his part, al-Mustaqbal lawmaker Ahmed Fatfat revealed in comments published in An Nahar that the March 14 coalition kicked off discussions after the first round to evaluate the situation.
“The alliance's candidate for the second round is being discussed,” Fatfat added.
The parliament will hold a second vote on April 30, in which the winning candidate will need only a simple majority of 65 votes.
On Wednesday, 124 of the parliament's 128 members were present, with 48 casting their ballots for Geagea and one vote was submitted for Gemayel.
But speaking after the vote, Geagea said he would not drop out of the race.
Gemayel said later that “the party will take the decisions that can achieve our goals and this is why I'm not in the race at the moment, although my nomination has been on the table since the very beginning.”
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