Backing Aoun for President ‘Might be a Mistake,’ Says Geagea

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Thursday said the party’s backing to bring President Michel Aoun to the post might have been a “wrong assessment,” he said in an interview with Kuwaiti al-Qabas newspaper.

Geagea commented on whether the Maarab agreement between the LF and the Free Patriotic Movement chief (Aoun) in 2016 negatively impacted the party.

“At first glance this impression may be correct, but I did not touch this in practice,” said Geagea.

He added: “What options were available then? Settlement or continuation of the vacuum at the presidential post. At the time, that is how we assessed the matter - and it might be wrong - that General Aoun's election was better than the vacuum. I acknowledge that the assessment might be wrong, because in such matters it is difficult to evaluate things accurately.”

The 2016 Maarab agreement brought the two largest Christian forces in Lebanon together.

It also saw Geagea relinquish his candidacy to support Aoun for president.

Aoun was elected later that year.

Ties have been strained between Geagea and Aoun. Geagea considers Aoun as “part of the trinity that bears, at least in the last ten years, a large part of responsibility for the situation that we have come to.”