Geagea Expected to Make 'Last-Minute Initiative' on Extension Crisis

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is scheduled to launch an initiative to avoid the extension of parliament’s term, which is set to take place on Wednesday.

The “last-minute initiative” will be made during a press conference at 12:30 pm Tuesday, Geagea's press office announced.

LF deputy chief MP George Adwan told An Nahar newspaper in remarks published on Monday that the main cause of the extension crisis is the failure to elect a new president.

“The responsibility for having to choose between extension and vacuum lies on those boycotting the parliamentary sessions and preventing the election of a president,” he said.

Adwan was referring to the majority of the March 8 alliance's MPs, mainly his rivals in the Change and Reform bloc of MP Michel Aoun, who have boycotted the sessions aimed at finding a successor to President Michel Suleiman.

Baabda Palace has been without a leader since the expiry of Suleiman's term in May. The rival MPs failed to elect a new head of state over their differences on a compromise candidate.

The majority of the March 8 camp's lawmakers have boycotted the sessions over their claim that there should be consensus on a candidate first. But their boycott was a clear sign of their rejection to Geagea's candidacy.

The LF is likely to vote for the extension of parliament's term on Wednesday despite the rejection of other main Christian parties such as Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and the Kataeb.