Geagea Says Bkirki Doesn't Confront Any Party but Would have 'Harsh Words' over Boycott

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said Bkirki would not enter into a direct confrontation with any political party over the presidential deadlock although it would have harsh words against those paralyzing the elections.

In an interview with el-Shark daily published on Monday, Geagea said: “Bkirki does not play the role of a political party and does not put itself in a confrontation with any party.”

The LF chief, who is the March 14 alliance's only candidate in the presidential elections, was referring to MP Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement which has been boycotting the polls.

Aoun has stressed that he would announce his candidacy only if there was consensus on him. But his bloc's lawmakers and the rest of the March 8 camp's members have caused a lack of quorum in the past rounds of the elections.

A new parliamentary session is scheduled to take place on Thursday. But the lack of agreement between March 8 and 14 will likely lead to a similar boycott.

Geagea warned that “the Christians would lose the presidency” and urged Bkirki to have a tougher stance against the Christian MPs boycotting the elections.

“Because of this boycott, the Christians will miss the chance to bring a real president to power,” he said.

Geagea told the newspaper in the interview carried out on Friday that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi would have “harsh words” against Aoun's FPM but away from the media spotlight.

Reports said Saturday that al-Rahi pressured Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, who is an FPM official and Aoun's son-in-law, that the elections should be held on time.

The LF chief denied that Kataeb party chief Amin Gemayel has been proposing an agreement to elect him as a consensual president.

He said Gemayel discussed with him during talks that lasted two hours and a half, the longest meeting between them, the need to come up with a solution to avoid vacuum at Baabda Palace.

Geagea told the daily that he reiterated to the Kataeb chief that he would be willing to withdraw his candidacy if another March 14 official would be seen as a consensual president with the same political plan.

Gemayel has been touring top officials to urge them to resolve the presidential crisis.

President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25.

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