Aoun Says Willing to Attend Electoral Session if Geagea is Sole Competitor
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Wednesday announced his willingness to attend a parliamentary session aimed at electing a new president if political forces pledge to limit the voting process to him and his political rival Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
“I'm willing to go to parliament if I receive pledges that the electoral battle will be limited to me and Geagea,” said Aoun during an interview on MTV.
“I don't care if I become a president or not and I'm only trying to preserve this Christian post,” he noted.
Playing down concerns over political vacuum in the country, Aoun pointed out that “there has always been vacuum in the country, with or without the presence of a president.”
“We went to parliament in the first electoral session and we saw how the votes were distributed. Further sessions would have been of no use in the presence of three candidates,” Aoun explained.
“They wanted to make a maneuver (by eliminating me and Geagea) and electing a third candidate and they are still maneuvering,” he added.
Decrying that “the presidents are being appointed by foreign powers,” Aoun stressed that he is not calling for a constituent assembly “but rather for implementing the text and essence of the Taef Accord.”
Asked about Geagea's recent suggestion that the March 8 and March 14 forces reach an agreement on a third candidate in order to break the stalemate, Aoun said: “I do not want to reach this proposal and this suggestion is prohibited.”
“I want someone who can represent Christians and the Lebanese people and others do not want this,” he added.
“There has been a plot since 2005 to eliminate Michel Aoun (from the political scene) and this game is being played by most of the politicians,” Aoun pointed out.
Earlier on Wednesday, the parliament failed for the sixteenth time to elect a president due to a lack of quorum as Geagea reiterated his accusation that Aoun's Change and Reform bloc is obstructing the polls.
The first session was held on April 23 but none of the candidates received the sufficient amount of votes to be elected president.
Hizbullah and Aoun's bloc have been boycotting electoral sessions due to a disagreement with the March 14 camp over a compromise presidential candidate. Geagea has accused them of adopting such measures in order to blackmail political blocs into electing Aoun as president.
Turning to the issue of the recent extension of parliament's term, which has been challenged by Aoun's bloc before the Constitutional Council, the FPM leader said one “cannot speak of democracy while the parliament's term has been extended two times.”
“The security situation was worse in the past and we can organize parliamentary elections now,” Aoun underlined.
As for the letter he sent to Speaker Nabih Berri to demand a parliamentary session aimed at interpreting Article 24 of the Constitution which is related to equal power-sharing between Christians and Muslims, Aoun said he has not received any answer until the moment.
“But he cannot forbid us from interpreting an article that can lead to adopting a new electoral law,” Aoun added.
Despite the ongoing rift over the presidential elections, lawmakers attended earlier this month a session to extend their tenure until 2017.
The session was boycotted by Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement lawmakers and the Kataeb Party, which is part of the March 14 alliance.
In May 2013, the parliament voted to extend its own mandate for 17 months after the rival political parties failed to reach a deal on a new electoral law other than the one based on 50 small-sized districts in a winner-takes-all system.
Y.R.
Source: Naharnet
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