Suleiman Meets Al-Rahi, Geagea Ready to Discuss Pullout in Case of Deal on Another March 14 Candidate

by Naharnet Newsdesk 08 May 2014, 13:30

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said on Thursday that he was ready to mull his pullout from the presidential race if a deal was reached to back the candidacy of another March 14 alliance member.

“I will discuss the withdrawal of my candidacy from the presidential elections if there was an agreement on another official from March 14,” Geagea said following talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

He also expressed readiness to discuss any proposal that leads to the election of a “serious president” to avoid vacuum.

“My only concern is to have a Republic,” he told reporters, a day after parliament failed in the third week in a row to elect a new head of state.

“My candidacy is not a challenge to anyone. My program is clear,” he said after March 8 alliance members criticized the March 14 camp for obstructing the elections process by holding onto Geagea's candidacy.

The LF chief criticized a “Christian party” of pushing the country’s top Maronite post towards vacuum. Geagea was referring to the Change Reform bloc of MP Michel Aoun, which has been boycotting the elections along with many lawmakers from the March 8 alliance.

Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, has repeatedly said that he would only announce his candidacy if there was consensus on him.

Geagea hoped that the patriarch would be able to convince the parties that have been causing lack of quorum at parliament to attend the legislative sessions aimed at electing a head of state.

President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25.

The LF leader also criticized the campaign launched against the patriarch over his planned visit to the Palestinian territories later this month.

He hoped that the critics would “deal with their own concerns” rather than condemning al-Rahi's trip that is aimed at greeting Pope Francis in the Holy Land.

And in the evening, al-Rahi met with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace, and both men discussed the anticipated presidential elections.

The Patriarch has repeatedly said that it was his duty as the head of the Maronite Church to visit Jerusalem, stressing that he was not seeking to normalize ties with the Jewish state.

G.K.

M.T.

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