MP Salim Al Sayegh, member of the Kataeb parliamentary bloc, considered the votes garnered by Jihad Azour in the 12th presidential election session a victory for Lebanon’s opposition.
Speaking to a local media outlet, Al Sayegh said that “the results achieved by Azour in the June 14 session were positive because he has not been involved in the Lebanese political scene for a while and he enjoys good international and economic relations, away from the ruling class.”
He pointed out that another positive aspect came from the 77 ballots that did not vote for the opposing candidate. He added that this “scared the other team, as their intention to boycott the second round became clear, and their deputies, as usual, resorted to evading responsibility,” as the 17 hesitant MPs would have voted for Azour in the second round, he claimed.
The Kataeb MP explained that his bloc first participated in the presidential election process by nominating MP Michel Moawad. In contrast, “the opposing team casted a blank vote and closed the parliament until they nominated a serious candidate.”
After Frangieh was nominated by the Hezbollah-led bloc, “the battle between Moawad and Frangieh became difficult to resolve, we turned to an acceptable candidate from all parties, and until now, the other team is still working on sabotaging and obstructing the quorum,” Al Sayegh said.
He noted that “we understood that the Democratic Gathering will vote for Azour, and the same goes for the March 14 Alliance. As for the other six votes, they will be discussed.”
Al Sayegh added that according to his bloc’s calculations, “Frangieh could have received a maximum of 52 votes.”
He called for a dialogue between opposing teams without insisting on promoting Frangieh for presidency.
Al Sayegh considered that “Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is the mastermind behind the opposing team and works to serve them; otherwise, he could have requested and convinced the deputies to stay in the Parliament to complete the second round.”
He demanded that Berri opens the parliament, and “not to deceive people locally and internationally.”
Regarding the statement of the French Presidency, Al Sayegh noted that, “I understood that there is an international interest in expediting the solution, and according to other indicators, I expect that it will not take long for us to have a president.”
Sayegh claimed that it is untrue that Iran does not interfere in the Lebanese presidential elections, “we demand, along with Patriarch Rai, to internationalize the Lebanese cause.”
He also demanded that “Iran be present in this solution so that everyone assumes their responsibilities because there is an illegitimate weapon controlling the country.”