Geagea: We see no point in Bkirki meetings

Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday criticized the meetings to which Maronite Church leader Bechara Rai has invited the Christian parties to discuss the Christian vision and the crises in Lebanon, believing that they will not break the deadlock in the presidential elections. Geagea also felt that the ambassadors of the quintet of countries involved in the Lebanese issue – USA, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar – would not be able to make a breakthrough at this level, while the country has been plagued by a vacancy in the supreme magistracy for almost a year and a half.

Three inter-Christian meetings were held at Bkirki under the leadership of Rai, following an appeal by the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Gebran Bassil, an opponent of Samir Geagea. This comes after MPs failed, in 12 parliamentary sessions held between late 2022 and 2023, to elect a successor to Michel Aoun. The main Christian parties and the opposition are converging on the candidacy of Jihad Azour, former Finance Minister, against that of Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh, supported by the Amal-Hezbollah bloc.

"I'm not convinced of the Bkirki meeting, but the Lebanon Liberation Front participated for various reasons, including for the good of the Church," said Geagea in an interview on Télé Liban, the country's only public channel, as relayed by the National News Agency. "A certain party, the FPM, has been in power, partially or totally, for 15 years. We are well aware of its opinions, approaches and practices, and they have come to nothing. In this context, I don't see the point of these meetings," said Geagea.

Bringing Christian forces together

"We have another solution, which is to bring together the other Christian forces, which are already close, such as the Kataeb, the National Liberal Party and the independents, who agree on a unified opinion, whereas the FPM presents another," he continued.

Asked about his fear of an agreement between Bassil and Hezbollah that would favor the Batroun MP's repositioning and the election of a president after a quorum was assured, the LF leader replied, "Didn't they do it in the past," in a reference to the Mar Mikhail agreement between the FPM and Hezbollah, which favored the election of former President Aoun. "If Hezbollah agrees to reach an agreement with Gebran Bassil on a presidential candidate other than Sleiman Frangieh, Bassil will sit down with him. Unfortunately, the meetings in Bkirki are likely to be much ado about nothing," he continued.

The LF leader also assured us that he had "no objection to a dialogue around a third candidate, if this is the solution, provided that the latter has Jihad Azour's characteristics," without however specifying which ones.

No inter-Maronite problem

Geagea also felt that "it is inaccurate to speak of an inter-Christian problem," recalling that the latter had agreed on Azour's candidacy and had waged a battle to make him succeed. He pointed to the fact that "the Moumanaa (axis of resistance) links the blocking of the presidential election [to the lack of] inter-Maronite understanding."

Asked about reports circulating behind the scenes that two of the four Christian leaders – Bassil, Frangieh, Kataeb leader Samy Gemayel and Geagea – might be put forward for the presidential election, given the sensitivity of the current situation in Lebanon, the head of the LF said he had no information on the subject. "If this proposal is put forward, which rarely happens, we must adopt one of the FPM's equations: 'The strongest within one's denomination is the one who represents it.'" The LF have 19 MPs who are members of the party or related to it in Parliament, while the FPM has 17.  

Returning to the quintet's involvement in the Lebanese issue, Geagea felt that the ambassadors had "good intentions but cannot make a breakthrough." "Diplomats know how democratic elections take place, and that their success requires successive sessions, not dialogue tables," he stressed. He also said that the quintet "did not adopt the demands or vision of the other side, but tried to play the role of mediator," assuring that the LF preferred "to put limits to this game." For several weeks now, the ambassadors of the five countries have been pursuing their contacts with the protagonists and Lebanese officials with a view to breaking the deadlock in the presidential elections.

Finally, the leader of the Lebanon Liberation Front stressed the need for Speaker Nabih Berri to convene Parliament for open sessions until a president is elected.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.