Bkirki Spokesman Says Talk on Presidential Candidates is 'Useless'

Bkirki spokesman Walid Ghayyad has denied that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and al-Mustaqbal movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri have discussed the names of presidential candidates.

Ghayyad told al-Mustaqbal daily that al-Rahi and Hariri agreed during their meeting in Rome Monday on the need to intensify efforts to elect a new president.

He denied that they discussed the names of possible candidates, which he described as “useless at this stage.”

A conversation on candidates “is a mistake that neither the Patriarch nor ex-PM Hariri would commit,” said Ghayyad.

The discussions between al-Rahi and Hariri focused on “the importance of having a consensual candidate who is capable of confronting this difficult stage,” he told al-Mustaqbal.

They also agreed on “choosing a head of state before any other move,” Ghayyad said.

His remarks, which were published on Wednesday, came as An Nahar newspaper said al-Rahi would renew a proposal for Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea to withdraw his candidacy in return for a similar move by his rival Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun.

Geagea is backed by the March 14 alliance, which includes Hariri's al-Mustaqbal movement.

His candidacy has angered the FPM and the March 8 camp, whose majority of lawmakers have boycotted the presidential elections causing a lack of quorum at parliament.

The differences between March 8 and 14 have kept the country's top Christian post vacant at Baabda Palace. President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended on May 25.

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