Gemayel refuses a president of 'Hezbollah republic'

Kataeb party leader Sami Gemayel said Wednesday that Hezbollah will not be able to impose a president on the Lebanese and that such a president would be the president of "Hezbollah's republic" and not of all the Lebanese.

In a press conference, Gemayel said that the elected president should have the ability and willingness to negotiate in order to restore sovereignty and solve the problem of Hezbollah's weapons.

"We should go to parliament and elect a president who can unite the Lebanese and who is not imposed on us," he said.

Gemayel decried provocative behavior and attempts to establish superiority over others, amid an unprecedented economic crisis.

During a joint committees session on Tuesday, Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil had reportedly said to Gemayel that he is a "son of criminals."

"What happened yesterday could have pushed the country to a dangerous place and if I had behaved differently, I don't know where Lebanon would have been today," Gemayel stressed.

He said that "it is time to look forward but it seems that they are still living in that (war) era."

"We know what war means and we don't want to return to it," he added.