Report: Aoun Remains Hizbullah's Sole Presidential Candidate
Hizbullah will not support the candidacy of any nominee but its ally Michel Aoun, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, for the presidency.
Hizbullah officials stressed in comments to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Friday that the “party supports Aoun for presidency unless he has changed his mind.”
Sources told the daily that “Aoun is the party's only candidate and the cabinet is the main preserver of stability amid the ongoing situation in the country.”
“If any vacuum shall occur then the government could lead the country until an agreement is reached,” the sources.
President Michel Suleiman's tenure ends on May 25. By law, if no president has been chosen by the last 10 days of the incumbent's mandate, parliament cannot meet for legislative sessions except to elect a new president.
Thursday's parliamentary session faced the similar fate of its predecessor.
The first presidential elections session was held on April 23, but neither Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea nor Democratic Gathering MP Henri Helou garnered the necessary 86 votes to emerge victorious.
Two other sessions were supposed to be held, but they failed over lack of quorum after a March 8 camp boycott on the ongoing disagreement over a candidate.
Visitors quoted Hizbullah officials as saying that the party's leadership refuses to negotiate any candidate but Aoun.”
“Aoun or nobody” is the slogan that Hizbullah adopted, the visitors told al-Akhbar.
The newspaper said that prominent Maronite officials in the March 8 alliance, who are presidential hopefuls, asked for a meeting with Hizbullah secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah but he refused to meet with them.
H.K.
G.K.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/130802 |