Geagea: French Initiative Faces “Obstacles”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Monday efforts to agree on a consensus presidential candidate are facing “obstacles”, expressing a belief that a parliamentary session scheduled for Wednesday to elect a new head of state could be postponed.

Consensus, Geagea said, “does not mean that we accept the opposition candidate. This is not logical.”

 

Geagea, after talks with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, noted that parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri “exerted sincere efforts to achieve consensus.”

 

“Consensus on some candidates was possible, and God knows how much Hariri endured” to achieve consensus.

“Things have complicated,” Geagea said.

 

He stressed that contacts persist with the various parties, including Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.

 

“Elections would be held and whoever boycotts the (Parliamentary) session would be held responsible,” he added.

 

The March 14 majority alliance, according to Geagea, has decided to give the French initiative “a last chance.”

He accused the Hizbullah-led opposition of “preparing something for tomorrow or after tomorrow. Let them save their efforts, the security forces would shoulder their responsibilities.”

 

“Eventually, the election would be held and, God willing, we will have a president,” Geagea said.