Mustaqbal Urges MPs to Vote for Geagea, Slams Attacks on STL over Journalists Summons

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday announced that Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea “is the candidate who gained the support of all March 14 forces,” urging MPs to vote for him during the second round of the presidential elections that will be held on Wednesday.

“Participation in tomorrow's session is at the core of the democratic, parliamentary action seeking to preserve the Lebanese constitution and state institutions,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

It pointed out that the presidential program recently announced by Geagea “reflects the aspirations of the vast majority of the Lebanese who want a sovereign, free and independent state, and consequently the main objectives of the Independence Uprising coalition and the March 14 forces.”

Mustaqbal's statement comes only a few hours after a meeting that was held in Paris between the movement's leader, ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, the son-in-law and confidant of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

On Sunday, al-Mustaqbal movement poured cold water on remarks by a number of FPM MPs about the presence of a certain “deal” with Hariri that would see Aoun reach the Baabda Palace, amid the insistence of FPM sources on the existence of such efforts.

Unlike Geagea, Aoun has not officially announced his presidential nomination, stressing that he will only join the race if all parties endorse him as a “consensus candidate.”

A prominent, unnamed Mustaqbal minister told Asharq al-Awsat daily in remarks published Sunday that “all reports alleging that there is a presidential deal between Aoun and Hariri are implausible and inaccurate."

"But should they start to materialize, that would be part of a grand settlement, which does not seem to be possible in the near future,” the minister added.

The Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance is expected to shun Wednesday's session and strip it of the needed quorum. Last Wednesday, lawmakers failed to elect a president after no candidate was able to garner the needed two-thirds of votes.

Turning to the recent controversy over the summons issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon for journalists Karma al-Khayat and Ibrahim al-Amin, al-Mustaqbal bloc stressed that freedom in Lebanon is a "sacred cause," but noted that freedom is governed by certain laws.

It said the STL's measure "is a mere implementation of Rule 60 bis (A) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, which is titled Contempt and Obstruction of Justice."

The bloc underlined that “it is the court's duty to provide protection for witnesses, whose pictures and addresses were published by these media outlets,” referring to Khayat's al-Jadeed TV and al-Amin's al-Akhbar newspaper.

While admitting that the STL's measure might have given some parties the impression that the move was biased for not involving foreign media outlets that had published leaked information, the bloc said the court is responsible for prosecuting those who published “dangerous” leaks about witnesses, even if STL employees were involved in the leaking.

Al-Mustaqbal blasted “the attempt to take advantage of this case by Hizbullah, its cronies and its media outlets,” reminding that the court has indicted five Hizbullah operatives accused of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.

The bloc also slammed Hizbullah and media outlets that are close to the party for allegedly failing to condemn the assassinations of the journalists Samir Qassir and Gebran Tueni and the torching of Future TV's building during the May 7, 2008 incidents.

The STL announced Thursday that it has summoned Khayat and al-Jadeed's parent company and al-Amin and al-Akhbar's parent company to appear before it on three counts of Contempt and Obstruction of Justice.

A meeting was held on Monday at noon in solidarity with the two journalists at the Press Syndicate.

In April last year, a list of 167 names of so-called witnesses for the Hariri trial was published by a previously unknown group identified as "Journalists for the Truth." The group said it wanted to "unveil the corruption" of the STL.

Both al-Akhbar and al-Jadeed published the list. Last week, several journalists rallied near the Ministry of Information in Beirut, to protest the STL's decision.

Y.R.

S.D.B.