Hizbullah Says Party that Opposed Govt. Statement Can't Win Presidency

Hizbullah stressed Sunday that Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea will not be able to be elected as the country's new president, noting that “those who rejected the policy statement” of Tammam Salam's cabinet have no place in the Baabda Palace.

“The Lebanese are eagerly awaiting the election of a new president because they want the country to capitalize on the positive steps that were achieved with the formation of the cabinet and the implementation of the security plan,” Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad said during a memorial service in the southern town of Blida.

“It is obvious that the balance of power in the parliament as well as its structure do not allow a single political camp to secure the election of a president without cooperating with the other parties,” Fayyad added.

The lawmaker urged an end to “the nominations that provoke the feelings of a large segment of the Lebanese,” describing them as “a futile, negative act that is going in the opposite direction of the accord atmosphere.”

In an apparent reference to Geagea's nomination, Fayyad stressed that the new president “must be a friend of the resistance, must reflect the consensual aspirations of the Lebanese and must abide by the content of the current government's policy statement.”

“Those who were opposed to the policy statement have no place at the helm of the country,” he added.

The first round of the presidential vote was held on Wednesday, but parliament failed to elect a new head of state after none of the candidates, Geagea and Democratic Gathering MP Henri Helou, received the needed 86 votes.

The second round of the polls will be held on April 30 during which a candidate needs only 65 votes to be elected president.

President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25 but the constitutional timeframe to elect a successor began on March 25.

Y.R.