Geagea, Jumblat see no light at presidential tunnel end

Lebanese politicians are no longer pinning hopes on domestic and foreign initiatives to break the presidential impasse soon.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and former Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat are both losing hope, as Geagea and Jumblat expressed pessimism over an imminent solution.

"I don't see any solution in sight," Geagea told Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida, in remarks published Monday, as he criticized Hezbollah and its allies of inflexibility, stubbornness and obstruction.

"As long as Hezbollah and Amal are clinging to their candidate (Marada leader) Suleiman Franjieh, there will be no solution on the horizon," he said. "I believe that the crisis will be long."

Also on Monday, pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper quoted sources close to Jumblat as saying that there are no signs of positive progress in the foreseeable future, especially after the five-nation group on Lebanon failed to issue a statement after its meeting last week in New York, due to disagreements between its members.