Geagea Says LF Can Replace FPM as Leading Christian Party

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said in an interview that his party has the ability to replace the Free Patriotic Movement as the leading Christian group in the country through the upcoming parliamentary elections.

“On the Christian level, I will say it like this for the first time: is the LF a substitute to the FPM? Yes! And I openly and loudly say it. Yes it is an alternative because the LF’s practices are totally opposite to the practices that we saw from the FPM while in power,” Geagea told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Asked whether a parliamentary majority consisted of around 65 out of 128 MPs would have the ability to elect a new president in late October, Geagea said: “No, but what’s certain is that the others will not be able to elect a president and this is what’s important. You start by preventing any harmful thing and you keep trying to do beneficial things.”

Responding to a question about Lebanon’s “clear isolation” in the Arab arena, the LF leader noted that Gulf countries would reevaluate their stances on Lebanon “within a few minutes” should power in the country shift from “untrusted, rival, hostile and corrupt hands” to “Lebanese and white hands that want to build.”

“The Gulf countries are certainly not interested in the current Lebanon, the Lebanon of Qassem Soleimani, but the Lebanon of Charles Malek, Camille Chamoun, Rafik Hariri and Bashir Gemayel is certainly of interest to them,” Geagea noted.