Geagea meets Le Drian, says solution in hands of Lebanon's MPs, not France

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea considered Thursday that despite France's efforts to break the presidential impasse, the problem is "inside Lebanon."

Geagea said, after meeting France's new special envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian, that the presidential crisis could only be resolved inside Lebanon's parliament.

"It doesn't need French, American or Iranian intervention," Geagea went on to say. "What is needed is a sovereign domestic decision."

Geagea accused the Shiite Duo of clinging to their candidate, Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh, which is obstructing real dialogue. "They want a dialogue only to convince us with Franjieh," he said, suggesting open-ended electoral sessions to end the presidential void.

The latest vote for the presidency pitted Franjieh against financial official Jihad Azour. Franjieh's supporters left the session before the second round of voting, where the winner only requires 65 ballots.

In the first round, both Azour and Franjieh failed the needed two-thirds majority -- or 86 votes -- to get across the line, with Azour garnering 59 votes and Franjieh 51 in the 128-seat parliament.

On top of lacking a president, Lebanon, which has been reeling from three years of economic meltdown, has been governed by a caretaker cabinet with limited powers for more than a year.

The international community has long urged Beirut to elect a new leader capable of enacting reforms crucial to unlock billions of dollars in loans to save its flailing economy.

Multiple attempts spearheaded by Paris to extricate the country out of its financial and political woes have ended in failure.

A week after Lebanese lawmakers failed for a 12th time to elect a president, Le Drian arrived in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders to "contribute to finding a way out of the impasse."

After meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, Le Drian also said that the solution should start with the Lebanese themselves and that France has no proposals or candidates, but is willing to listen and help.

"The solution comes first of all from the Lebanese," said Le Drian.