The head of the “Lebanese Forces” party, Samir Geagea, expressed his disagreement “with the opinion that after the nomination of former minister Jihad Azour to the presidency of the republic, we will witness more and more escalation that could reach unimaginable consequences,” and was surprised by this statement.
In an interview with “Hala London TV”, he said: “There is no justification for escalation, and we have heard in the past two days a great verbal escalation, which is only an indication that the other team does not want things to get out of its control, and most of what happened is that this team when it sensed the occurrence of something outside his expectations and control immediately started to escalate.
Regarding his belief that the opposition was able to score a point that could lead to dropping Franjieh’s candidacy, Geagea commented: “We cannot say that, given that the goal is not to cancel his candidacy per se, as if matters are personal. Rather, we seek not to remain in the current presidential stalemate, and not to give way to confrontational team to force on us its candidate, regardless who their candidate is whoever this candidate may be . If we were succeed in agreeing on “the currently accepted candidate it is possible to move forward.”
And whether he was concerned about the position of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) in support of Azour’s candidacy against the background of the question marks he had about Bassil’s commitment to him, and whether the visit of former President Michel Aoun to Syria could shake the solidity of theFPM’s position. Geagea said: “About two months ago we were close to Azour’s candidacy, but based on the precedents we have with FPM we were not convinced of his seriousness in this matter until we heard the public position, which, if he ( Bassil) withdraws from it, will pay a heavy price, but this does not mean that we should not remain vigilant until the last moment in the shadow of discouraging precedents.
As for Aoun’s visit, Geagea expressed his deep regret, asking: “Who is in Damascus today? If there was an actual authority representing the Syrian people, we would have understood this visit, and I would have followed his example, given that Syria is a country on our borders and we are supposed to have good relations with it.
As for Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s position regarding Azour’s candidacy as” a gathering of opposites, Geagea hoped, especially for the “Amal Movement”, to show the minimum level of logic in their positions.
We are in the process of presidential elections, and all have the right to support or not support this candidate, How did we all finally agreed on Azour is not anyone’s business.
Regarding the opinion on the equation that “most of the Christian blocs are against Franjieh, which means that the Shiite duo blocs are against Azour,” he replied: “Let set aside the person of Suleiman Franjieh . He is after all the candidate of the resistance for the top Christian position . For this reason the Resistance team should seek opinion of the Christians, just as when the position of the prime minister it is natural to seek the opinion of the Sunni community, and this matter also applies to the position of the Speaker of the Parliament in relation to the Shiite community.
As for the possibility of this intersection on the name of Azour turning into broader understandings and negotiations, with regard to the ” the Lebanese forces”, Geagea wished that but expressed concern about Bassil’s long term commitment
And whether he was concerned over breaches of security in the period extending up to June 14, Geagea pointed out that ” if we recall the events of the past, there is a fear of such acts, but this is ruled out if we want to take into account international, regional and local indicators, along with an additional factor that was not present.” Normally, it is the strenuous efforts of the security forces and the Lebanese army, which will not allow any Lebanese party to attack another
As he reassured the Lebanese about the readiness of the army to control the situation.
Geagea did not rule out that the 12th session would be worse than its predecessors in disrupting the quorum in the first session or not attending the session in the first place.
He added, “This time, we will catch the liar right there ” especially since the conditions have been met and there is no need for boycott, and we are in front of clear-cut candidates, who enjoy the required conditions and enjoy the support of some blocs, hence the need to move towards open electoral sessions until the desired result is reached.
And he stressed that we are not seeking any advice from the Arab and foreign partners in the presidential election, because there are 128 deputies who bear the responsibility of achieving the presidential election, stressing that this is strctly an internal matter,
And he held every member of parliament responsible for the position that he or she will take from now until next Wednesday, meaning that it is no longer permissible to hide behind the blank ballot or slogans as in the past sessions.
Geagea denied rumors that some are waiting for the “password” from abroad, considering that this matter is a mistake that must be corrected.
And about some deputies who are waiting for an intervention from the “Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ” he said: “The Lebanese forces” are among the most present parties in the Arab circles, so trust that these circles are waiting for a sign from us of what needs to be done in Lebanon, and the “Kingdom” has repeatedly confirmed it does not want to get involved in “inner matters”.
He pointed out that “France is no longer as eager as before to support the Resistance candidate following the visit of His Beatitude the Patriarch to Paris, and will not take any step in an attempt to recommend his candidacy, not to mention the impact of the opposition consensus, which includes an unprecedented Christian consensus , from the Christian parties and the majority of independents.”
He revealed that “Patriarch Al-Rai carried with him to the Vatican and France the position of the majority, given that before his departure he had been informed by us , FFM , “the Phalanges”, “the Change MPs and independents
As for whether the doors of the Arab world would be opened to Lebanon in the event of Azour’s election, he believed that ” there are other additional steps needed , such as forming a government, but it can be considered that by electing Azour as president, we will be on the right path.”
Geagea warned against “going to a security shake-up” regardless whatever happens “because it will not lead to a solution, but we must reconsider everything that exists “
Regarding the impact of the presidential vacuum on the Christian positions that will become vacant, he considered that “the matter is not limited to these positions only, but rather to all positions.
In his remarks about escalation Geagea was referring to the statements made by a key Hezbollah official
In comments following Azour’s nomination announcement , Hezbollah member of parliament Hassan Fadlallah described him as a candidate of “confrontation and challenge.”
“Don’t waste your time and efforts, the candidate of challenge and confrontation will not arrive at Baabda [presidential palace], whatever his name is. We will prevent them [other political parties] from achieving their goals. They will not succeed in imposing their candidate on the rest of the Lebanese people, neither constitutionally, nor politically, nor through the media,” Fadlallah said during a speech at an event in south Lebanon on Sunday.
His comment came even after the opposition branded Azour as a consensus candidate . Former opposition candidate Michel Moawad , who was seen as in the case of Franjieh as confrontation declared as confrontation. candidate withdrew his nomination in favor of Azour
Source : Lebanon Debate : Translated from Arabic
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