Change and Reform: March 14 Proposal is Meaningless, Aims to Waste Time
The Change and Reform bloc rejected on Tuesday the proposal made by the March 14 alliance over ending the deadlock over the presidency, saying that it “offers nothing new.”
Former Minister Salim Jreissati said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “The initiative is meaningless and is aimed at wasting time.”
Any proposal that does not adhere to Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun's “national initiative is aimed at wasting time,” he added.
The March 14 alliance on Tuesday kept its support for Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea as a presidential candidate, but said it was ready to agree on another consensual candidate.
“Out of its keenness to hold the elections, the March 14 alliance calls for the respect of constitutional deadlines and the rotation of power,” MP Fouad Saniora told reporters minutes after Speaker Nabih Berri adjourned a parliamentary session aimed at electing a president.
The March 14 alliance holds onto the candidacy of Geagea, the lawmaker said but expressed the camp's “full readiness to discuss with the rest of the factions the name of a person who receives the backing of all the Lebanese and who is committed to the country's principles.”
Aoun, who has not declared his candidacy, has repeatedly said that he would be willing to run in the elections if there was consensus over him.
Commenting on the ongoing kidnapping of soldiers and policemen by Islamists, Jreissati said: “Those negotiating with a terrorist organizations should realize that negotiations should be conducted between countries, even if it means dealing with the Syrian government.”
“The main goal remains to release the captives and preserve national dignity,” he stressed.
“There can be no equality between the criminal and the victim,” he added.
“We direct this speech to the families of the captives and the Lebanese people, army and government, which should assume its responsibilities in this affair,” he stated.
“The government should not fall victim to blackmail,” he remarked.
“We reject negotiations between the state and army and between a terrorist organization,” continued the former minister.
“The abductees should be released at the most minimal cost,” he explained, while emphasizing the need to maintain Lebanon's sovereignty.
The soldiers and policemen were kidnapped after clashes between the army and Islamists in the northeastern border town of Arsal in early August.
Some of the captives were released in August, but others remain with the militants.
A Muslim Scholars Committee delegation was tasked with negotiating their release, but it recently suspended its activity to allow for other sides to assume this role.
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