Head of Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea at a press conference in Maarab in May 2019. (Credit: AFP/LF File/Aldo Ayoub)
BEIRUT — “This is the first and only time that Hezbollah has acted logically, considering that there is an agreement in which Lebanon's interest lies,” Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces, said regarding the demarcation of the maritime border. Geagea's remarks came during an interview with Al Hadath on Monday.
However, Geagea also stated that “Hezbollah advocated the demarcation of the border to assign the exploration to a company to borrow money from, in order to finance the state instead of going to the World Bank.”
Lebanese authorities received US envoy Amos Hochstein's written proposal on the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border on Saturday, and a meeting took place at 3 p.m. on Monday at the Presidential Palace between President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss the proposal.
Hochstein is the head of the indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel over their common maritime border.
"Lebanon will indicate its position on Hochstein's proposal in consultation with the heads of the legislature and the government," Aoun told Anne Gueguen, the director of North Africa and the Middle East at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who he received in the presence of the French ambassador in Beirut, Anne Grillo. "There will be no partnership with the Israeli side," he added.
Presidential elections
With regard to the upcoming presidential elections, Geagea said that “the data are not clear yet regarding the presidential elections considering that the other team is determined to disrupt it due to big problems it’s facing within its team.”
Geagea accused Hezbollah of wanting to “handpick” the next president of Lebanon, “just like they did with General Michel Aoun. They want a president who can implement what Hezbollah wants, and not an actual head of the Lebanese state.”
He stated that if that doesn’t happen, Hezbollah might resort to “having a presidential vacancy.”
He noted on the other hand that “the opposition team has an intention to reach presidential elections within the constitutional deadline, and from the first session we saw that we have work to do in order to unite ranks.”
On Thursday, Berri called for a parliamentary session to elect a new president despite no consensus on a candidate having been achieved between various political groups. Lebanon's presidential election period began on Sept. 1, but Thursday's was the first session Berri convened on the matter.
The Parliament session was adjourned due to an incomplete quorum after a number of MPs withdrew from the session. Some 122 MPs were present at the session and voted in the first round.
“We are making a great effort in the matter of unifying the ranks of the opposition, and we as Lebanese Forces took the initiative in this matter by giving up candidacy and we are the largest bloc in Parliament,” he noted.
Geagea concluded by saying that the parliamentary blocs are primarily responsible for bringing about a sovereign president capable of approving reforms, and only then will Arab and Western investors return to Lebanon.