Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in an interview with Al Jadeed, Jan. 16, 2022. (Credit: Lebanese Forces website)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Sunday evening that his party was ready to obstruct, at least "initially," if a Hezbollah presidential candidate gets 65 votes in an election parliamentary session. He conceded, however, that if they don't succeed in obstructing the election, the LF will have to play the "democratic game."
Lebanon has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31, due to a lack of consensus between all the political parties. Ten parliamentary electoral sessions have taken place since September, without success.
In an interview with Lebanese television channel Al Jadeed, Geagea accused Hezbollah and its allies of "of obstructing the presidential election process with the excuse of consensus, however in reality, they are obstructing the election process to open the path to an election of their [preferred] candidate."
In the last 10 sessions, Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement, the Amal movement and their allies cast blank ballots.
"Don't think that we will elect a president under duress, even if it takes 50 years," Geagea said, apparently directed at Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
"We will not achieve the election of the candidate that the Shiite party is thinking of," he added.
Hezbollah is in favor of Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh winning the presidency.
The 'democratic game'
Geagea stressed that FL "can never elect Frangieh because we have responsibilities towards the people who elected us" into Parliament.
"If there is no Saudi veto, let them [Hezbollah] elect him president," he said, with sarcasm.
"If the axis of [Hezbollah and their allies] manages to get 65 votes for any its candidates, it is natural for the LF to block the parliamentary sessions at first, to make this coalition fail."
However, "if we fail, we will stop our filibustering and play the democratic game and respect the Constitution.
Since the first election session in September, Frangieh obtained a vote only once, from an unidentified MP.
LF and other parties opposed to Hezbollah, notably the Progressive Socialist Party of Walid Joumblatt, the Kataeb and independent MPs have until now voted for their colleague, independent Zgharta MP Michel Moawad.
Under the Lebanese constitution, the president must be elected with 86 votes (out of 128 MPs) in the first round of voting, while an absolute majority of 65 votes is required in subsequent rounds.
No second round of voting has taken place so far, as MPs from the Hezbollah camp and its allies have withdrawn from Parliament after the first round, leading to a loss of quorum each time. At each new session, Berri considers it to be a new first round of voting, with 86 votes required to elect a president.