Head of Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea at a press conference in Maarab in May 2019. (Credit: Aldo Ayoub/AFP)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement “bear responsibility" for deteriorating living conditions in Lebanon, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea claimed Wednesday, blaming the opposed parties for "political deadlock” as Parliament fails to elect a president, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Geagea added that it is the responsibility of the Lebanese, “especially those who once again voted in favor of the parties supportive of the axis of resistance,” to put pressure on them to “stop disrupting the presidential elections and to elect a president for the republic so the rescue process begins.”
The 10th parliamentary session devoted to electing Lebanon's next president was adjourned last Thursday, less than an hour after it began, without reaching a result. No new sessions have been fixed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
As in previous weeks, Berri barely waited until the first-round votes were counted before ending the session, after several members left the chamber.
This ritual of a first round followed by the direct adjournment of the session — the quorum having been lost after the departure of Hezbollah, the Amal Movement and Free Patriotic Movement MPs — has been repeated since the first such parliamentary meeting on Sept. 29, despite Lebanon's ongoing dual executive power vacuum.