BEIRUT: A solution to Lebanon’s presidential deadlock is not near, Lebanese Forces Chief Samir Geagea told the Deutsche Press Agency Thursday, rejecting the suggestion to reduce the presidential term to a period of three years.
As long as Hezbollah and Free Patriotic Movement Leader Michel Aoun remain adamant on boycotting elections, “then there would be no solution on the horizon” the Lebanese Forces chief said Thursday.
Some March 8 coalition parties have boycotted eleven electoral sessions after the first attempt on May 22 failed to elect a president. They argue that the sessions are futile unless lawmakers agree beforehand on a consensus candidate.
The boycott by MP Michel Aoun, the undeclared March 8 candidate, along with Hezbollah and some of their allies, is meant to put pressure on lawmakers to come to an agreement on a future president.
“I have announced my readiness over selecting a consensus candidate,” Geagea said, highlighting that his political rivals from the March 8 coalition rejected the option of looking for a candidate other than Aoun.
In an attempt to resolve the presidential vacancy, Progressive Socialist Party Leader Walid Jumblatt proposed an amendment that would reduce the presidential tenure from a period of four years to a three year term last month.
“I reject the suggestion of giving Aoun the presidency, even if it’s only for a two year [term]” he said, stressing that he rejects any form of tampering with the term of the president.
“I don’t think Aoun is the most suitable president for Lebanon” said Geagea, arguing that the candidate’s political agenda and the current events in the region swayed him away from considering Aoun as an appropriate choice.
Geagea’s outspoken criticism of the March 8 coalition did not fall short of criticizing Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria.
“Hezbollah’s refusal to withdraw from Syria contradicts the Lebanese constitution and the will of the majority of the Lebanese population” the Lebanese Forces chief said.
Hezbollah is dragging the Lebanese people in to the Syrian crisis and is prompting the Syrian opposition to target Lebanon internally, Geagea added.
Separately, he stressed the necessity of holding parliamentary elections on their designated date, arguing that timely elections would “revitalize political life.”
Contrary to widespread rumors, the international coalition is targeting ISIS and not the Syrian regime, said Geagea, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry won backing for a "coordinated military campaign" against ISIS from 10 Arab countries - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including oil-rich rivals Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Critics of the U.S led initiative questioned whether the coalition would target the Syrian Army especially after Iran and Syria were left outside of the talks.
Iran can't join the international coalition tasked with attacking ISIS, said Geagea, arguing that the presence of Iranian affiliated units fighting in Syria prevented the move.
However, the Lebanese Forces leader forecasted little success for the international coaltion, arguing that the root of the extremism problem continues to be Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The continuity of Assad’s regime means the continuation of militarization and extremism, said Geagea, claiming that a crackdown on ISIS today would only result in the emergence of a new group after a year or two.
Geagea stressed that “Assad should leave power”, the same way Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki did in Iraq in order to make way for an inclusive government.
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