Lebanon's presidential office at Baabda Palace appears vacant after the departure of former President Michel Aoun on Oct. 30, 2022. (Credit: Twitter/Lebanese Presidency)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea warned Saturday that his party will not accept Hezbollah and its allies' efforts to facilitate the election of Marada Party leader Sleiman Frangieh to succeed Michel Aoun.
In remarks published Saturday, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who for the first time openly expressed support for Frangieh Thursday, called for "a competition between candidates" who are officially announced.
Lebanon has been immersed in economic and political crisis since 2019, with a total vacancy of the executive office since Oct. 31.
Earlier this week, the LF leader threatened to use Parliament's lack of quorum to prevent the election of Frangieh, who has received only one vote during the 11 election sessions. Berri said Thursday that the Marada leader is his camp's candidate, curtailing the chances of reformist candidate Michel Moawad by calling him an "in vitro experiment."
'If Frangieh becomes president...'
In remarks to Independent Arabia published on Saturday, Geagea said, "Let no one expect us to be so stupid and to accept that they [the opposing camp] block the ballot as they wish, and then once the conditions are met for their candidate to ask us to facilitate his election."
Geagea also denounced the strategy of the Speaker of Parliament who, he claimed, "knew from the beginning of the presidential election's constitutional period, six months ago, that the real candidate of Hezbollah, Berri and his allies is indeed Sleiman Frangieh."
"If Frangieh becomes president, he will govern based on the force that brought him to his mandate, namely Hezbollah and its allies," said the LF leader, who since last September's first electoral sessions has supported the candidacy of Zgharta MP Michel Moawad.
"Our refusal of the call for dialogue [launched by Berri] was well-founded," he added. "It is a waste of time as long as the other side clings to its candidate, and this is what Berri has proven."
'Healthy competition'
For his part, Berri told the local daily al-Joumhouria Saturday that "the announcement of [his] support for Sleiman Frangieh is a step that could encourage other parties to present a candidate, or two."
Reaffirming his support for the Marada leader, he added, "Let them agree on a candidate or two and let us go to Parliament and practice our democratic role in a healthy competition!"
"We need several candidates, it is obvious, so that there is competition," Berri said. "We are ready to go to Parliament as soon as this competition has a chance to happen, and at that time I will immediately call an election session."
Berri added that he wants to avoid repeating the "charade" of previous election meetings and assured his audience that "no session will be held without this competition" between several official candidates.
Previous electoral sessions consisted of the Hezbollah camp and its allies, including Berri's Amal movement, massively submitting blank ballots in the first round, then leaving Parliament before the second round had a chance to be held, thus causing a lack of quorum and the adjournment of the session.
Moawad's supporters did not manage to bring enough votes to win.
Later Saturday, Nabil Kaouk, a member of Hezbollah's central council, said that "the beginning of the logical, natural and realistic solution to emerge from these crises and halt the collapse is to agree on a president of the Republic, but those who refuse dialogue and consensus are only pushing the country toward the worst, and it is no secret that foreign countries prevent the Lebanese from meeting, [having] dialogue and consensus."
In recent days, the international community, through the International Support Group for Lebanon, as well as France, has called on officials to speed up the election of a new president. Paris has even threatened "consequences" for leaders who block this process and that of the reforms, without however mentioning concrete sanctions.
