Geagea doesn't want to be president of 'inexistent republic'
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has stressed that he does not want to become the president of an “inexistent republic.”
“Being an ordinary citizen in a serious and strong state is better than being the president of an inexistent republic,” Geagea said in an interview with Euronews, when asked whether he might stop criticizing Hezbollah’s arms in order to become president.
“Why would I accept the presidential post if I would become a president like Michel Aoun and if I would remain under the influence of Hezbollah and its strategies and control of the Lebanese decision? If I am to become president, I will want to practice the president’s full powers as stipulated by the Taef Accord,” Geagea added.
Asked whether he would sit around the same table with Hezbollah, the LF leader said: “I will if Hezbollah turns into a party that resembles any other Lebanese party, which means that it stops to usurp the state's strategic, security and military decisions, and if it hands over its arsenal of weapons to the Lebanese Army.”
“A state cannot be built if Hezbollah maintains its current status,” he added.
As for the possibility of the election of a candidate from the March 8 forces as president, Geagea warned that there is a “real risk” if the opposition does not unite.
“Should it unite over a single candidate for the presidency, this approach would protect us from a March 8 president,” the LF leader added.
Asked about how he would halt the current collapse and fight corruption should he become president, Geagea said: “If the opposition reaches unanimity over my election as president, everything will change. Our situation is not impossible and it is based on greedy parties and their allies, and by allies I mean Hezbollah.”
“Hezbollah has another project that has nothing to do with the interests of the Lebanese people and this is what has plunged Lebanon into the current situation. Should I reach the presidency, certainly everything will change,” the LF leader added.
