Geagea Urges Aoun for President, Hariri for PM, Says Lack of 'Partnership' Can't Continue
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed Saturday that the only solution to the country's long-running presidential void crisis is the election of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun as president and the re-designation of al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri as premier.
“The first practical step that is needed to overcome our current crisis is neither the national dialogue table that we have long tried nor the package deal that we have long searched for without managing to find it,” said Geagea at an LF-organized rally commemorating “the martyrs of the Lebanese resistance” in Maarab.
“The needed practical step is the election of a president,” Geagea added, noting that the presidential election is being obstructed by “local and foreign parties and for declared and undeclared reasons.”
The so-called undeclared reasons are “topped by some parties' disinterest in the rise of a real republic in Lebanon based on the equation 'a strong republic means a weak party and a weak republic means a strong party,'” the LF leader said, apparently referring to Hizbullah.
“The only practical solution to hold the presidential elections is supporting General Aoun's presidential nomination. Some might have questions regarding General Aoun's platform, alliances or performance, but let them give us feasible alternatives,” Geagea went on to say.
“The solution lies in the election of General Aoun as president and the designation of our ally Saad Hariri as prime minister,” he underlined.
Geagea expressing support for the FPM's latest political rhetoric on Muslim-Christian partnership, Geagea added: “I want to remind everyone that the same as partnership without sovereignty has no meaning, sovereignty without partnership also has no meaning and the situation that was created by the era of (Syrian) hegemony over Lebanon must come to an end.”
“For all these reasons, I call on all parliamentary blocs, especially the blocs that are allied with General Aoun, to support his nomination, practically and not verbally, away from all maneuvers and ploys, and away from all sensitivities and narrow calculations. This is the only way that can allow us to hold presidential elections,” the LF chief said.
He also cautioned that parliamentary elections without a new electoral law would achieve nothing.
Such a vote “would practically be a term extension for the current parliament and all its problems -- in terms of representation and everything else,” Geagea warned.
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.
Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
Hariri's move prompted Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival.
The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/215825 |