The head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea. (Credit: Twitter @DrSamirGeagea)
BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea issued a warning in an interview with Nidaa al-Watan, published Monday, that those supporting Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh's presidential candidacy might disrupt the quorum at Wednesday's parliamentary session.
Wednesday's session is aimed at electing Lebanon's next head of state. In his interview, Geagea warned that Frangieh supporters may disrupt the quorum if they "feel that the number of votes their candidate will receive is not balanced."
Since various opposition parties and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) announced their support for former Finance Minister Jihad Azour, several leaders within Hezbollah — which supports Frangieh —have described the former minister's candidacy as one "of challenge and confrontation."
Azour, who stepped down from his position at the IMF on Friday, announced his candidacy on Monday— two days before the parliamentary presidential election session.
None of the previous 11 presidential sessions held between Sept. 2022 and Jan. 2023 resulted in the election of a new head of state. Lebanon has been without a president since Oct. 31, 2022, in the midst of a serious socio-economic and financial crisis.
"Forty-eight hours separate Lebanon from the twelfth parliamentary session to elect a new president for the Republic," Geagea said. "The other team, in the face of data indicating that the votes that their candidate Sleiman Frangieh may receive ... on Wednesday will be much less than those that the opposition's candidate will receive, may resort not only to disrupting the second round of vote but also the first round, by disrupting the quorum or by other means."
To hold a presidential electoral session, Lebanon's Parliament requires a two-thirds quorum, or the attendance of 86 out of 128 MPs.
The same is true for the first round of voting: a candidate can be elected with 86 votes. However, in the second round of voting, only a simple majority of 65 votes is required.
Geagea noted that Azour "was not [initially] our candidate," adding that "Azour met with officials in Hezbollah, just as he met [Parliament] Speaker [Nabih] Berri."
"But the result was strange ... Non-acceptance of a candidate imposed by Tel Aviv, and that Azour is an American concoction between the [Lebanese] Forces and the FPM, knowing that we searched for the Americans, but we did not find them,” Geagea said.
"Frankly, this reaction leads us to a simple and clear conclusion that the Axis of Resistance, headed by Hezbollah, wants to impose the person they want or there will never be a presidency, which means hitting the democratic game and national partnership," Geagea concluded.