Geagea: Presidential Vote Blocked to Reach Constituent Assembly, Not Boost Aoun's Chances

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has warned that some parties are obstructing the election of a new president in Lebanon because they are seeking to “change the political system.”

“Some believe that the obstruction of the presidential vote is aimed at boosting (Free Patriotic Movement founder) General Michel Aoun's chances, but the obstruction is actually aimed at changing the political system through a constituent assembly or a similar move,” Geagea said in an interview with MTV.

He noted that “the attempt to alter the current Lebanese system” has been running for 11 years now.

“In the Syrian tutelage era, there was no need to change the system because it was being implemented in a flawed way. Based on these facts, we can now understand why the presidential vote is not being held and why we are living a political paralysis,” Geagea added.

He however noted that the attempts to change the political system will not succeed due to lack of “consensus” on such a drastic move.

“Any constituent assembly does not have chances to succeed and we do not have fears in this regard,” Geagea reassured.

“Proposing a constituent assembly at the moment would resemble ten steps backwards, that's why we must improve this system instead of heading towards a worse system,” the LF leader said.

As for national dialogue, Geagea pointed out that the LF supports dialogue in principle but noted that “the current format of the dialogue meetings cannot achieve anything.”

“I tried it for five years and the more you increase the number of the debated topics the more you delay results,” he said.

“If are unable to elect a president, shall we be able to choose a new electoral law and a new premier? We have been trying to devise an electoral law for eight years now, so combining all these problems will not lead to a solution,” Geagea added, dismissing Speaker Nabih Berri's call for reaching a so-called “package deal.”

The LF leader also suggested limiting the national dialogue meetings to “five or six parties in order for dialogue to be serious.”

Dialogue must also “have a clear agenda and a specific deadline, things that are not available in the current dialogue meetings,” Geagea added.

Berri has recently stressed that “there is no alternative” to the 1989 Taef Accord that ended the civil war while ruling out the possibility of holding a so-called constituent assembly in the foreseeable future.

“Commitment to the Taef Accord is final and let no one think of any new constituent assembly. The Taef Accord is not a Quran or a Bible, but changing it is out of the question,” Berri said.

“There is no better alternative at the moment and you must first implement the Taef Accord before talking about improving it,” the speaker added.

There are fears in the country that the ongoing political and presidential vacuum might eventually lead to introducing constitutional amendments or holding a constituent assembly that would radically change the current political system that is based on a delicate distribution of power among the country's sects.

Berri himself and Hizbullah have been recently accused of seeking a constituent assembly aimed at altering the political system in their favor.

In June 2012, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah openly called for “a constituent assembly elected by the people.”

“Why don't we form a constituent assembly elected by the people -- not on a sectarian or regional basis but on the basis of competency -- in order to discuss all options. Let it discuss the Taef Accord, a new social contract or a non-sectarian system,” he said.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Hariri's move prompted Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.