Report: Kataeb Chief Briefed March 14 Officials on his Initiative, Inquired them on Next Stage

Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel briefed top March 14 officials over the weekend on the results of his attempts to resolve the presidential crisis ahead of the “second stage” of his initiative, An Nahar newspaper reported on Monday.

Gemayel met with Ministers Butros Harb, Michel Pharaon and Salim al-Sayegh, and MPs Marwan Hamadeh and Dory Chamoun, in addition to March 14 general-secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid over lunch at a restaurant in Bikfaya, it said.

Gemayel, a former president, briefed the officials on the results of his meetings with the country's top leaders to resolve the deadlock on the presidency and to inquire them about the steps he is planning to take in the last week before the expiry of President Michel Suleiman's term.

Gemayel has adopted the slogan of “openness on all the factions without exception” in the six-day stage before Suleiman leaves Baabda Palace on Sunday, An Nahar said.

The officials who attended the meeting stressed their rejection to have an “acting president,” saying it was an “insult to the presidency.”

They stressed that March 14 lawmakers could continue to attend the parliamentary sessions aimed at electing a new president.

The first four rounds of the polls failed to bring a head of state to the country's top Christian post after most of the March 8 camp's MPs boycotted the elections.

The March 8 alliance's members have claimed that their boycott was the result of lack of agreement on a consensual candidate.

A fifth round of elections is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

March 8 MPs have informed Speaker Nabih Berri that they would attend the session but it is not clear whether they would vote or not.

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