Gemayel Says he Aspires to Become Consensual Candidate
Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel said his candidacy for the presidency would only become real if lawmakers failed to elect Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, revealing his ambition to become a consensual candidate.
“If the March 14 alliance … was able to break the barricade that surrounds Geagea, then it would reach its objective,” Gemayel told the Saudi Okaz daily published on Sunday.
“Or else, all options would be on the table and my candidacy would become real,” he said.
The former president expected the third round of the polls next Wednesday to be decisive in the battle for the country's top Christian post.
The polls have turned into a conflict between Geagea and Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun, he stated. But things would change “when Lebanon feels that the election of one of them is impossible.”
In the first round of the polls, 52 MPs from the March 8 alliance cast blank ballots, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea received the votes of only 48 MPs while 16 lawmakers voted for Aley lawmaker Henri Helou and one for Gemayel.
The blank votes were aimed at sending a message that Lebanon would not have a new president unless there is consensus on one person.
Aoun has repeatedly announced that he would run for the elections only if there was consensus on him. The FPM's negotiations with al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri in that regard have been so far futile.
The March 8 lawmakers, except for Speaker Nabih Berri's bloc, boycotted the second round of the elections this week.
A similar scenario is expected to take place next Wednesday, causing fears of a vacuum in the country's top Christian post.
President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25.
“I aspire to be a consensual president but my aspiration is not enough for it to become reality,” Gemayel told Okaz.
“All political parties have their calculations ... But I haven't been confronted by any party the same way Geagea was, because I have kept my ties with all of them,” he said.
“This opens a window” of opportunity, he added.
Addressing both Geagea and Aoun, Gemayel said: “We should cooperate to serve the nation and not a certain party.”
The elections should not cause further divisions among the rival parties, he stated.
Asked what stance he would have from Hizbullah's arsenal if he was elected, Geagea said: “Our understanding of the sovereignty of the state lies in keeping arms in the hands of the state.”
The dialogue on Hizbullah's arsenal would continue pending a "consensual patriotic decision” that serves the nation, he added.
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