Geagea: The Arab plan for ending Lebanon crises won’t fail

 

Lebanese Forces leader Dr. Samir Geagea said on Friday that the Hezbollah-led opposition is “not positive” in its attitude towards the Arab initiative , calling for the immediate election of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president.

 

Demands made by the opposition for the re-distribution of power in the forthcoming cabinet aim at blocking the presidential election, Geagea told reporters after a meeting at his residence in Meerab with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa who is trying to promote the Arab initiative.

 

“Whoever wants to proceed with the initiative should immediately start with electing a president,” Geagea said.

“As along as there are no differences regarding the first clause of the initiative, why don”t we start with implementing it?” Geagea asked.

 

The first clause of the initiative adopted by Arab foreign ministers on Cairo last Saturday calls for the election of Suleiman president.

 

He stressed that the issue of forming a national unity government, as stipulated by the second clause of the initiative, “cannot be settled as long as there is no president at the Baabda Palace who would preside over consultations in line with the constitution.”

 

Geagea denied reports that he was behind aborting a proposed meeting between Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and parliament majority leader Saad Hariri.

 

“Such meetings are not on the agenda at present as long as an agreement has not been reached on the first and most important topic which is electing Gen. Michel Suleiman as president,” he noted.

 

He stressed: “The Arab initiative would not end up in failure because it is backed by all the Arab states, with the exception of Syria that alleges approving it while working in secrecy against it.”

 

Geagea said the Arab initiative “should be implemented as presented, clause after clause. It is not acceptable to skip the presidential election topic and start tackling the second clause which is the government structure.”

 

The March 14 majority alliance would “save no effort to facilitate the initiative and we would not succumb to black mail,” he concluded.