The leader of the Lebanese Forces (LF), Samir Geagea, admonished one of the party’s bloc MPs from the Metn region for supporting a non-civilian candidate for the presidency.
The LF party still seems committed, at least publicly, to the agreement between the anti-Hezbollah sovereign forces and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), around the candidacy of former minister Jihad Azour. He is said not to have abandoned this option, despite the political deadlock since the last electoral session on June 14, and calls from the French special envoy to “seek a third way (candidate).”
However, the LF believe that the meeting held in Bnechaay between FPM leader Gebran Bassil and Sleiman Frangieh, Hezbollah’s candidate, did not alter the positions of either party. According to them, Gebran Bassil continues to put pressure on Hezbollah to support his own candidacy, after obstacles were raised against Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy as it was envisaged by the French initiative (Sleiman Frangieh as President of the Republic and Nawaf Salam as President of the Council of Ministers).
Does Samir Geagea’s party really believe that Azour can still accede to the supreme magistracy? Or is it waiting for the right moment and circumstances to publicly support a new candidate?
