Report: Geagea Satisfied with Dead-End Reached in Franjieh's Nomination
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea remarked that the recently proposed political settlement has reached a “dead-end” due to a number of factors, including his party's rejection of it, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.
LF sources told the daily that Geagea has “expressed his satisfaction over the dead-end reached in the attempt to elect Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh as president.”
He also attributed the failure to Saudi Arabia's position that “refuses to abandon Geagea and Christian consensus that rejects the manner in which the settlement is being imposed.”
The kingdom has repeatedly said that it does not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs, with its ambassador Ali Awadh Asiri saying last week: “Saudi Arabia has not and will not nominate any candidate for the presidency … Franjieh's nomination was an inter-Lebanese initiative and we only supported the step and inter-Christian dialogue is needed in this regard.”
Franjieh's name is being proposed as part of a greater settlement that would revitalize the political scene in Lebanon.
The MP's chances to reach the Baabda Palace had recently made a dramatic surge in the wake of a Paris meeting between him and Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri.
The nomination has created tensions among the Christian camps of the Kataeb Party, LF and Free Patriotic Movement, who all oppose the manner in which Franjieh's candidacy is being proposed.
The candidacy has also created a divide between the Mustaqbal Movement and LF, both allies in the March 14 camp.
Geagea is a presidential candidate himself.
The LF sources continued to al-Joumhouria: “Geagea stresses that the halt of the settlement does not mean that it has failed. Those marketing it will resume their efforts once again”
“Should these efforts kick off again, then Geagea will be ready to confront it and he will take surprising moves against it,” they warned.
They also did not rule out the possibility that he would support the candidacy of his rival, Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun.
Given the choice between Aoun and Franjieh, Geagea would pick the former, revealed LF MP Antoine Zahra in recent days.
M.T.
D.A.
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