BEIRUT: Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel Monday urged the two rival March 8 candidates, MPs Michel Aoun and Sleiman Frangieh, to fight it out during next month’s Parliament session to elect a president as a means of ending the 20-month-long vacuum.
Meanwhile, senior officials of the Future Movement and Hezbollah met Monday as part of their ongoing dialogue aimed at defusing political and sectarian tensions, stoked by the 5-year-old war in Syria.
“The two sides discussed the divisive points among the parties and ways to resolve them in the framework of a calm and responsible political debate with a view to preserving and bolstering civil peace,” said a terse statement issued after the 23rd dialogue session held at Speaker Nabih Berri’s residence in Ain al-Tineh.
The two sides also agreed on the need to “reactivate the government’s work and give a chance to tackling the people’s issues,” it said.
Monday’s meeting came amid a new strains between Hezbollah and the Future Movement as a result of the escalating Saudi-Iranians tensions, fueled by Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shiite preacher, Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, on Jan. 2.
Gemayel, who has not supported the candidacy of either Aoun or Frangieh, said the Feb. 8 electoral session was a chance for rival candidates to prove if they were worthy of running the country.
“The Feb. 8 session is a big test for all the parties and candidates must prove that they worthy of leading the country. The people need to turn the page of obstruction,” Gemayel told reporters after meeting with MP Dory Chamoun, head of the National Liberal Party, who belongs to the March 14 coalition.
“I take this opportunity to stress that the most important thing is for the country and its institutions to function and to respect our constitution and our democracy starting with the Feb. 8 session. All circumstances are favorable for holding the election,” he said.
In a clear reference to Aoun, whose candidacy was endorsed by Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea last week, and Frangieh, who is backed for the presidency by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Gemayel said: “There are two candidates who have public support. The question is will the parties accept to submit to democracy?”
Gemayel has said the five Kataeb MPs, including himself, would attend the Parliament session to vote, regardless of who would win.He reiterated Monday that the Kataeb MPs will not vote for a candidate whose political goals are unknown. “We cannot support any candidate whose aims we know nothing about, and where he plans on taking Lebanon. Therefore, we demand clarifications so that we can take our decision based on that,” Gemayel said.
Gemayel said last week the Kataeb party would not back any candidate with a “March 8 platform” for the presidency, in what amounted to an implicit rejection of Aoun and Frangieh’s bids.
Gemayel’s call on Aoun and Frangieh to contest the election during the Feb. 8 session comes a day after Berri sounded pessimistic about choosing a president during this session. He was quoted as saying the session was destined to fail over a lack of quorum like the previous 34 attempts to elect a successor to ex-President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year tenure ended on May 2014.
Parliament requires a quorum of two-thirds of its 128 members to convene.
Last week’s landmark reconciliation between Aoun and Geagea during which the LF chief endorsed his erstwhile arch foe for the presidency has jolted the political landscape, raising questions about its motives and implications.
Geagea’s endorsement of Aoun’s presidential candidacy is clearly aimed at scuttling Frangieh’s bid. Despite Geagea’s surprise move, Hariri is standing firm on his support for Frangieh’s bid.
The presidential impasse sparked a spat between Geagea and Berri over the latter’s sarcastic statement regarding Hezbollah’s efforts to promote Aoun’s candidacy for presidency.
“On what basis then is Aoun the candidate of March 8?” Geagea asked Berri in a tweet. Berri swiftly responded by saying: “On the same basis of the March 14 coalition’s nomination of you [Geagea].”
“But Speaker Berri, I withdrew in favor of Gen. Michel Aoun,” Geagea retorted in another tweet.
Berri ruled out the possibility that Hezbollah would exert pressure on its March 8 allies to vote for Aoun as demanded by Geagea.
Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat said Hariri still supported Frangieh’s presidential bid, adding that Aoun’s candidacy did not provide a compromise solution to the crisis.
He said Hariri’s latest phone contact with Frangieh was intended to assert his support for the Marada Movement leader’s candidacy.
“He [Hariri] is trying to propose an initiative to find a compromise solution at a time when Gen. Aoun’s candidacy does not constitute a compromise solution,” Fatfat told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
Separately, the U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Sigrid Kaag held talks with Iranian government officials in Tehran Sunday on the political situation in Lebanon, regional developments which impact Lebanon and efforts to promote stability and security in the country, according to a statement released by Kaag’s office Monday.
During her visit to Tehran, Kaag also met with representatives of the diplomatic community, the statement said. It added that the visit to Iran was part of Kaag’s ongoing consultations with regional stakeholders.
Kaag had recently visited Riyadh where she held talks with Saudi officials on the situation in Lebanon, particularly the presidential deadlock.