Geagea Says Direct Presidential Elections are Impossible
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea has rejected calls made by the Change and Reform bloc leader, MP Michel Aoun, for direct presidential elections.
The election of a president by the people requires a huge change for the regime and needs calm and deep thinking, Geagea said in an interview with the Qatari al-Watan newspaper published on Thursday.
Such elections also require a Constitutional amendment which is impossible in these circumstances, said Geagea.
The LF chief stressed that he holds onto the Taef Accord, which is irreplaceable.
Aoun, who like Geagea is a presidential candidate, first called for a constitutional amendment that would allow the people to elect their head of state in June last year.
He said the “limited constitutional amendment” would allow Lebanese citizens to elect the president in two rounds to avoid the same scenarios that parliamentary sessions are witnessing.
Parliament has failed to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman, whose six-year term expired in May last year after the rival March 8 and 14 alliances failed to agree on a compromise candidate.
In the interview, Geagea reiterated that the national dialogue which Speaker Nabih Berri is chairing is a “waste of time.”
Berri chaired the all-party talks in parliament on Wednesday despite the LF's boycott. A second session is set to take place next week.
The talks are aimed at averting a political crisis that stemmed from a trash crisis that has engulfed Beirut and Mount Lebanon.
G.K.
D.A.
10 September 2015, 09:58
1810
As a Shia Christian, Its a debt we owe to HA & a friendship & trust to hopefully last forever.
I am also proud of HA for protecting the Shia Christians of the ME.
they even rang the Huseinieh bells in Syria for us Shia Christians after they expelled Isis from Shia Christian towns & returned it to Aoun.
May the righteous forever stand strong.
10 September 2015, 12:07
1324
geagea knows he doesnt have any popular support, without saudi money and future movement political support, he'd go back to being the loser he is
10 September 2015, 12:08
1224
geagea knows he doesnt have any popular support, without saudi money and future movement political support, he'd go back to being the loser he is
10 September 2015, 12:11
1511
mowaten
I thought i told you I'd ring you when I needed a doorknob's opinion, who let you out of your cage?
10 September 2015, 12:12
1224
shame on him and shame on m14 for trying to impose a war criminal and mafioso as president of our republic
10 September 2015, 12:13
169
@mowaten E-X-C-E-L-L-E-N-T. Still laughing since the day you declared with a straight face you were a shiaa atheist and also a member of hezbollah with only one account. I think i will also continue to laugh at your statement "geagea knows he doesnt have any popular support". Thank you Thank you
10 September 2015, 12:15
1312
mowaten, who is paying you to post and for what purpose? I demand answers and now!
10 September 2015, 12:15
1411
you know what is strange mowaten.... I was thinking the same thing exactly, the same!!!! The similarities between us are not just coincidences anymore. I mean we are both shiaa extremists who pretend to be secular and we both are members of the shia resistance, both paid to post, both are sectarian to the bone, both troll and make up accounts to insult people and then pretend we are against such practices.... I hope just because we are similar in all the above ways people don't think we are the same poster.
10 September 2015, 12:28
138
I respect Mr. mowaten and Mr. however equally for their love of our country and Iran.
10 September 2015, 13:52
139
get me a proof mowaten that he's corrupt and i will stand corrected. so far, you follow feudal warlords and mafiosi who appoint lawyers to defend army killers. you have zero credibility and cannot correctly judge who is clean and who is not because you judge with your emotions and what your parents fed your head with. there is still time to wake up to your sickness.
10 September 2015, 13:53
138
we got your point mowaten: you're a bitter hipster who hates on geagea. and you invent lies on the go now. how desperate have yo become? you USED to have level minded posts. not anymore, unfortunately. you have decided to join the sorry club of hateful hipsters with nothing to offer but lies and distortion to back up their non existing argument.. please stop justifying your hate with more lies, because you are ending up believing yourself.
10 September 2015, 13:58
138
I am here today thanks to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and thanks to those who kidnapped the Turkish pilots. I also thank General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim.
10 September 2015, 17:43
12
mowaten
the only thing here is how unproven your allegations are, mere slander and unsupported accusations.
11 September 2015, 08:47
12
nassrallah kissing his master's hands
https://www.idfblog.com/hezbollah/files/2013/06/nasrallah-khamenei-200.jpg
10 September 2015, 10:00
1910
I am the_roar: I am a regular poster on naharnet. I have 51 fake accounts and I live on this forum 24/7. I make fake accounts and insult people when I have no argument or debate. I am a Shia who pretends not to speak Arabic and claims to live in Australia. I know every street in Lebanon and every MP's name despite my claim that I am 3rd generation Australian and having never been to Lebanon. I tell people I don't post on weekends to give them the impression I have a life. I lie and lie and lie and think people believe me. I love to see my comments in the top rated section so people think I am important.
10 September 2015, 10:03
1812
Aoun wants an "illegal" parliament to Amend the Constitution, for his sake!
Sounds like a very reasonable demand, and a priority, especially under the circumstances...
10 September 2015, 10:20
1121
Why is it impossible to make a popular vote in Lebanon overseen by the Lebanese Army?
Let Lebanon be a real democracy.
10 September 2015, 10:26
1911
why is it impossible for you to admit it is a martyred iranian jihadi terrorist family in your avatar?
10 September 2015, 10:39
1712
If you are so much for democracy, question for you: as an advocate of democracy, don't you think your so called resistance should have referred to the Lebanese parliament and/or people before waging wars in Syria and other places. It seems you want democracy the iranian mullah way.
10 September 2015, 10:42
1610
i'll explain again Mystic... Aoun claims that the Parliament is illegitimate... at the same time, he is asking for a popular vote to elect the President. In order to have a popular vote, you should amend the constitution. Who will amend it? The illegitimate Parliament?
A real democracy you say? Name a country that is a real Democracy to you Mystic please.(as it seems that you very lightly define the term only based on the popular vote issue)
10 September 2015, 12:11
1121
sayed faisal: so now war is a democratic process? when israel bombs us you think they will wait till we hold a referedum? do you think we can "vote" them out of occupying our land, killing our people and stealing our resources?
you people are a joke, you care nothing for democracy, you reject the idea of a popular vote to chose our leaders, you support medival kingdoms like saudia because they bought your souls and consciences with filthy oil money, and you dare expect hezbollah to bow to your will and let themselves get slaughtered by isrealis and takfiris waiting for your approval to defend themselves and their country?
10 September 2015, 12:20
139
mowaten, you cannot pick and choose when democracy applies. You want to force your militia on the people it claims to protect. What if those people do not want your militia's protection. You are a typical arrogant hezbollah demagogue.
10 September 2015, 12:24
139
yes Sayyed Al Faisal:
So now going to Syria is a democratic process? when the Syrian refugees bomb us you think they will wait till we hold a referedum? do you think we can "vote" them out of occupying our land like Qusayr and Zabadani, killing our people and stealing our resources?
you people are a joke, you care nothing for democracy, you reject the idea of a popular vote to chose our leaders in the resisatnce, you support medieval mullahs like iran because they bought your souls and consciences with filthy oil money, and you dare expect hezbollah to bow to your will and let themselves get slaughtered by Syrian refugees and Saudis waiting for your approval to defend themselves and their country?
10 September 2015, 12:34
915
It's pretty simple, instead of the secterian constitution, let the Lebanese people vote under LAF observation.
The candidate with the majority Lebanese vote wins. Why do M14 always complicate things? Is it because you are afraid to see the peoples opinion?
10 September 2015, 12:39
1410
dear Mystic
You remind me of Sayyed Hassan (PBUH) when he said " Let's hold elections and whoever wins let them rule"
10 September 2015, 12:54
1312
Mowaten is the modern day version of Joseph Goebbel.
if you don't know who I mean ..you should !
look it up
10 September 2015, 14:00
1314
I disowned him a longtime ago. He was always a problem child. We tried our best to raise him up as a Lebanese but he always aspired to be Iranian. I recall when he was a baby…. his first words out of his mouth were not Mama or Baba or Ughha …… but Aya-tollah ! He would wake up in the middle of the night and ask his mother when the Ayatollah would come take him to Qom. In the end, we surrendered to God’s will and accepted things as they were. Child psychologists informed us he will grow up to be the most sectarian creature. Well, it seems they were right.
10 September 2015, 17:42
12
@mowaten, they don't like your answers so they vote you down, then next thing they bring the trolls who insult you and your family. Boring.
10 September 2015, 10:08
1610
Aoun's logic:
This parliament is not legitimate to elect a President, unless it elects me.
This parliament is not legitimate, but I would like it to amend the constitution as i see it fit!
10 September 2015, 10:10
1610
Perfectly explained...no logic can come up from a megalomaniac madman.
10 September 2015, 11:34
138
I respect Mr. Flamethrower and Mr. Fresh.Brotest for their factual comments
10 September 2015, 11:31
158
وردا على الدعوات للنزول للمجلس وانتخاب رئيس، ذكر عون: “شبعنا ممن يقولون لنا انتخبوا رئيسا في مجلس النواب ولم اسمع احدا يقول ان المجلس غير شرعي لكن اقول انه شرعي فقط ان جرى انتخاب رئيس متوافق عليه، ما بيطلع رئيس جديد ان لم يتم انتخاب مجلس نواب ولا انتخاب مجلس نواب قبل وضع قانون انتخابات جديد”.
10 September 2015, 10:12
167
7 minutes ago MP Yassin Jaber to VDL (93.3): Dialogue has helped in stimulating the government's work. The street mobility has proven an ability to persist.
Yassin Jaber talks as if he is a liberal free thinker who sits in cafes in Venice and writes poetry.
10 September 2015, 10:23
149
Caporal is the one blocking the elections. He is destroying the country
10 September 2015, 10:39
148
just need to understand the logic of Aoun. He does not recognize the legitimacy of the parliament yet he ask this very parliament to make a constitutional amendment when this very amendment needs the presence of a president.
The only logic Aoun has showed us so far is that he wants to be president what ever the means; be it war, be it unconstitutional or be it blocking the political and economical life of the lebanese.
10 September 2015, 10:46
127
The ineffectiveness of the state empowers Ebola and boosts its control over institutions and all decision-making.
The presidential vacuum, the inefficiency of the government and the incompetence of the current parliament make a perfect framework for Ebola to continue their war in Syria unimpeded.
...and taking over the country...
10 September 2015, 11:09
127
serves hizbollah and iran; yet aoun is so power crazy cares not nor about lebanon nor about the lebanese. What makes me nuts is that so many lebanese follow this guy yet they see how desperate the situation is becoming.
10 September 2015, 10:50
179
The madman said : "If they don't elect me, I will destroy everything and they will be forced to elect me"
10 September 2015, 11:21
167
https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nownews/jumblatt_aoun_back_in_beirut_after_doha_visit
Jumblatt, Aoun back in Beirut after Doha visit
10 September 2015, 12:35
128
yes Marcus, I did visit Qatar and I am not denying it. But when Geagea visits Qatar it is different.
10 September 2015, 11:37
1511
dear flamethrower
How many years was Bassil minister of energy?
10 September 2015, 12:34
1313
Bassil was minister of energy for only 3 years during mikati government and for only 2 years in hariri's government which totals 2.5 years in the shia hijri calendar.
10 September 2015, 14:15
128
flamethrower and his empty arguments again. Bassil got the funding of 1.5 billion from the government and that's what counts. If a government resigns it does not mean the subcontractors do not work anymore.
10 September 2015, 11:49
116
you may not be perfect but you are denitely a limited edishun
10 September 2015, 13:12
147
Mastica, Northern, Non-Mowaten, etc...etc...are not Caporal followers...but are from Ebola and supoort Caporal because he is their KHADIM...
10 September 2015, 15:50
36
situations change and contexts change and so do @flamethrower's aliases;)
10 September 2015, 13:43
175
Gigi is afraid because he knows that the Shia Muslim majority will elect Aoun!
10 September 2015, 17:17
73
We either get out of the sectarian system or we dont. If we do, then it doesnt matter what the secta of voters are, one lebanese = one vote
if we remain in the sectarian system, then whatever aoun can get from hezbollah's supporters, geagea can get from future movement's supporters, the decisive component will remain the part of christians who will go one way or the other.
in the end this would be the perfect occasion to see which bloc has more supporters, m14 or m8, and end once and for all the debate and speculations around it.
you m14 always pretend you have all the population on your side, and keep announcing that "silent majority" of "good shias" (as you label them) are against hezbollah, then what are you afraid of?
10 September 2015, 17:39
12
you know what is strange mowaten.... I was thinking the same thing exactly, the same!!!! The similarities between us are not just coincidences anymore. I mean we are both shiaa extremists who pretend to be secular and we both are members of the shia resistance, both paid to post, both are sectarian to the bone, both troll and make up accounts to insult people and then pretend we are against such practices.... I hope just because we are similar in all the above ways people don't think we are the same poster.
10 September 2015, 17:47
34
mowaten, everybody knows you are iranian and not Lebanese. Don't speak of which you are not. Elections are a pure Lebanese matter so please we don't need iranian interference in our future.
10 September 2015, 13:59
156
Gigi is afraid because he knows that the Shia majority will elect Aoun no matter who the Christians chose as their favorite candidate..
10 September 2015, 17:15
82
We either get out of the sectarian system or we dont. If we do, then it doesnt matter what the secta of voters are, one lebanese = one vote
if we remain in the sectarian system, then whatever aoun can get from hezbollah's supporters, geagea can get from future movement's supporters, the decisive component will remain the part of christians who will go one way or the other.
in the end this would be the perfect occasion to see which bloc has more supporters, m14 or m8, and end once and for all the debate and speculations around it.
you m14 always pretend you have all the population on your side, and keep announcing that "silent majority" of "good shias" (as you label them) are against hezbollah, then what are you afraid of?
10 September 2015, 18:10
35
if you want to get out of the sectarian system, start by first removing the sectarian weapons of your hizb. No election by the people can happen unless people are free from intimidation caused by weapons carried by a sectarian militia.
Why is the fake resistance only shia? and please do not tell my about the resistance brigades. We know the story there....
10 September 2015, 18:15
12
am I dreaming? mowaten is talking about getting out of the sectarian system?!!!!
10 September 2015, 23:48
01
Sure, emile rahme got the largest number of votes in the whole country during the last elections one would think he's the most popular politician in the nation. Direct presidential elections could comically elect him president, a man who could not be elected dog catcher in his own home town.
10 September 2015, 15:12
00
I like Geagea, he would make an excellent president. If only the axis of resistance (evil) didn't oppose him.. and that joke called aouun
10 September 2015, 15:37
57
@Justin
Of course imbassil is corrupt...highly corrupt...only idiots will defend him..
10 September 2015, 17:17
81
the only "highly" thing here is how unproven your allegations are, mere slander and unsupported accusations.
10 September 2015, 17:05
46
of course the Aoun gambit on changing how a president is elected, given the present circumstances is a waste of time. That is its intent, to waste time, create diversions, keep government and state institutions paralyzed so that Hezbollah may prosecute its war in Syria under Iranian instructions with a minimum degree of interference from state or government institutions in Lebanon.
It is a disgrace and a sham and its no wonder that the people are out in the streets. They're certainly not being represented by the Hezbollah regime that has crept into control of Lebanese sovereignty.
10 September 2015, 19:16
13
labeik ya hussein.... the aousinsts were screaming during last week manifestation.
10 September 2015, 20:55
24
what changed since 1975.... you say. Well, the not so islamic revolution in Iran led by Khomeini which instilled hatred and division. Second, the emergence of hezbollah and its wilayat faqih teachings among the shia community. Your thoughts reflect a typical SSNP "wooden" logic.
10 September 2015, 21:09
32
By Your logic Big John, we should have played Hail to the Chief to Al Gore on Election Day in 2000 because Bush received 50,456,002 votes and Gore received 50,999,897 votes nationwide. But Bush won. Why because in a nation of laws, the electoral law determines the outcome. The U.S. Operates under the electoral college election law which gave Bish the win though the popular vote was otherwise. If M8 had 55% of the vote in 2009, that is relevant only in the context of the existing election law which apportioned that vote. You cannot claim later that the majority party was illigitimate, when it, in fact was the majority under the existing election law for which M8 voted.
10 September 2015, 21:14
33
The 2009 vote was in fact a shock to Hezbollah because Hezbollah expected the Aounists to do the same in the Christian electorate as Hezbollah did in the Shia, that is, amass 95% of the Christian vote. But, the Christian voters are not this way, by temperament or circumstance. Aoun is a polarizing figure. There is a large segment of the Christian electorate that will NEVER vote for Aoun, just as a large segment will never vote for Geagea. So enough with the "numbers don't lie" crap. The fact is that liars do use numbers to promote their lies.
10 September 2015, 21:17
35
And besides, 2009 was a long time ago. It was the Syrian War, 2.0 million Syrian Refugees, Arsal, Tripoli, and #YouStink ago. Whatever political base FPM may have had in 2009, it certainly does not have now. This is why Hezbollah does not want another Parliamentary election. They know the reality that FPM cannot deliver a majority in Parliament, therefore Hezbollah cannot name the PM.
You want facts BigJohn? Chew on those.
10 September 2015, 21:31
13
bigjohn you are full of intentional ignorance. I quote "the majority of Sunnis and Druze politically supported the LNM, but not the majority of Shiites who were on neither side."
Moussa Sader established AMAL which stands for Afwaj Al Mouqawama Al Lubnaniyyah. Amal was heading the civil war against Christians. Even the supposedly sunni Murabitoon were predominantly shia fighters. You revise history it is ridiculous.
10 September 2015, 23:40
01
John nice rewrite of history pal, 1975 shiites were not with neither. They were on the side of the plo and it's allies, most shiites were in amal, the communist party. But I love your qawmi soory spin on what happened been hearing it from them for decades.
11 September 2015, 14:24
00
Antoon like cartoon is accurate about the shia involvement in the war from the beginning part of amal and the communist parties, that why hezballah assassinated amal and communist leaders in the late 80s in it's hegemonic bid to control the shia community.
