Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem ( usually referred to as No. 2 ) admitted on Sunday that it his party is behind the obstruction of Lebanon presidential election when called on The Future Movement to “end its hesitation” and agree to back Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun’s presidential bid claiming that that Hezbollah’s MPs would immediately end their boycott of the electoral sessions in order to vote for Aoun.
Arms twisting
Qassem stressed that the only way to Baabda is through electing Aoun as at the president
“The days have proved that there is a specific path for the presidency. Those who want to elect a president have only one route to take and it leads to General Michel Aoun,” Qassem said.
“The global and regional powers, the Security Council and the Arab League will not be able to alter this course. They have been trying for two years to no avail,” Hezbollah’s No.2 added.
He also stressed that the developments in the region, “whether negative or positive, will not be able to change this course in Lebanon.”
“Delaying the election of the president will not change the equation and it will only produce further vacuum, paralysis and harm to people’s interests,” Qassem warned.
He accused Future Movement of obstructing the presidency
“We advise Future Movement, which is currently obstructing the election of a president, to end its hesitation… This would be in the interest of the country and also in their interest,” the Hizbullah official added.
“Should an agreement be reached over General Aoun’s election as president, we are ready to attend a parliamentary session aimed at electing a president and we will vote for him no matter what ,” Qassem noted.
Aoun’s chance non-existent
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea predicted that the chances of getting Aoun to the Baabda palace have almost faded, media reports said on Saturday.
“The possibilities for MP Michel Aoun to become a president are almost non-existent,” Geagea was quoted as saying.
LF sources said that Geagea had pointed out that “currently there is a difficulty to elect Aoun as president because Hezbollah does not want a president.” Therefore Geagea trying to persuade Future Movement into forming a trio panel that includes Aoun, Hariri and himself to convince Hezbollah into the election of Aoun.
The Lebanese parliament failed again September 8th and for the 44th time in a row to elect a president to replace Michel Suleiman whose term ended on May 25 , 2014.
As in the past sessions the parliament was unable to reach a quorum because the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group and its ally MP Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc MPs boycotted the session, because they could not reportedly guarantee Aoun’s election as a president.
Amal Movement leader, Speaker Nabih Berri a key ally of Hezbollah postponed the election to September 28.
Aoun and Marada Movement leader Suleiman Frangieh are the 2 main candidates for president.
Aoun is backed by Hezbollah and the LF, and Frangieh is mainly supported by the Future Movement, the Amal Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party.
Lebanon’s political impasse took a turn for the worse earlier this month after the FPM decided to boycott the national dialogue , which led Berri, who had been hosting the talks, to suspend the future dialogue sessions .
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