Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh said that he was “ready” to run for the presidency.
“I am ready for the presidency like other candidates. If they want a March 8 [nominee], I will be a serious candidate,” Franjieh told Al-Jadeed ( New) TV on Tuesday.
He also expressed his support for a “strong president.”
“Choosing between a weak president and presidential void, I would choose void.” He said
Like Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Franjieh is closely linked to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime . For this reason he cannot count on any support from March 14 alliance.
Aoun’s son-in-law Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil headed to Paris to meet with former PM and Future Movement leader Saad Hariri to convince him to support Aoun’s candidacy , but Former Future Movement MP Antoine Andraos told Central News Agency (CNA) that the the Hariri bloc will not endorse the nomination of Aoun “because the Sunni community will not accept this, as it has not forgotten what the FPM chief has done to it.”
“We reiterate our support for Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in the presidential race, and we call on Aoun to convince Christians of his candidacy, before trying to convince Muslims.”
Future Movement bloc confirmed Andraos’ statement after the MPs’ weekly meeting at the Center House on Tuesday evening.
“Samir Geagea is the candidate who gained March 14’s support and the bloc calls on the MPs to vote for him in tomorrow’s session,” the lawmakers said in a released statement.
The parliament is set to meet Wednesday for the second time to elect a president to succeed Michel Suleiman whose term expires on May 25, but quorum is not expected to be met because Hezbollah reportedly is strongly opposed to Geagea’s candidacy and so far he is the main declared candidate
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.