On Wednesday, Kataeb Chief, MP Samy Gemayel declared that Hezbollah forcefully seeks to impose its candidate, Sleiman Frangieh, and will continue to paralyze the presidential election until it achieves its goal. “Hezbollah seeks to triumph by force. If it continues to try to impose its decisions on the Lebanese, then there will be a risk of civil war. Since 2005, Hezbollah has been carrying out a systematic operation of erosion to take over the country,” he explained.
During an interview with local TV station LBCI, the Metn MP said that his party “aims to prevent Hezbollah from imposing Sleiman Frangieh in Baabda”. “We have never relied on foreign influences and always defended Lebanon by ourselves. It is our duty to do whatever is necessary to prevent the deterioration of the country and work to save Lebanon. We will not go to Parliament if the session is intended to impose Sleiman Frangieh by force of obstruction and foreign interference,” he declared.
Addressing the positions of foreign capitals regarding the Lebanese presidential vacuum, Gemayel said that “Saudi Arabia does not want to interfere in Lebanese internal affairs and that the French understood that their proposal would not be accepted.” He also stressed that the election of Sleiman Frangieh would mean “the continuation of Hezbollah’s stranglehold on Lebanon” and that those who accept to be the candidate of the pro-Iranian formation “must assume the consequences”. “If Hezbollah’s candidate is re-elected, it would mean six more years of isolation, poverty, and death,” he warned.
“There is an armed party with a non-Lebanese agenda, non-Lebanese weapons, and funding and track records linked to foreign actors. In addition, Lebanon is hostage to this party that seeks to control the country,” he added. “The Free Patriotic Movement just noticed that phenomenon but refused to acknowledge it in the past because they vastly benefited from it,” he noted.
Regarding the Speaker of the House, Gemayel called on Nabih Berry, “to perform his duties and remain neutral, believing that he should not interfere in politics as Speaker of Parliament.” He also asked Berry to examine the number of violations committed against the Constitution and “stop giving lessons in patriotism.”
Gemayel also indicated that proposing a candidate on which a consensus could be reached is necessary. “We are in an advanced phase of this process,” he revealed. “But we will not discuss other potential candidates’ names before the file of Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy is completely closed.”
Broaching the subject of the potential candidacy or election of Army Commander-in-Chief Joseph Aoun, the MP said that if Aoun wants to run, he must publicly address the political issues and present his political ideas and orientations; in order to be candidate.