'Stalemate': One thing Lebanese leaders seem to agree on
The presidential juncture seems to have reached a dead-end. This is what Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told L'Orient-Le Jour, in remarks published Wednesday.
This is also what Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah hinted at on Monday, when he said that "there is nothing clear or new in the near future" regarding the presidential file.
Geagea accused again Hezbollah of obstructing the presidential vote, after Nasrallah accused the opposition of wasting the "chance" to engage in dialogue "due to bickering and arrogance."
"It's not a dialogue, but a show," Geagea said, as he blamed Hezbollah and its allies of trying to impose their candidate.
"We are a bloc of 40 MPs, we don't have enough votes to elect a president," he admitted. "But we are open to discuss a third candidate and we have no veto on Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun," he added.
Geagea went on to accuse Hezbollah of refusing to cooperate with the French envoy regarding a third candidate, and asked Berri to call for a president election session, since his call for dialogue has failed.
Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel also said Tuesday that both French and Qatari initiatives will fail if Hezbollah insists on its candidate, instead of meeting the opposition halfway.
"The truth is not that the Lebanese are in disagreement. The truth is that one party is refusing but to impose its candidate," he charged, claiming that this is why all foreign initiatives to break the presidential impasse are doomed to fail.
Source: Naharnet
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