Geagea Says Ties with Hariri Have 'Returned to How They Were', Vows to 'Achieve March 14 Project'

W460

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Friday that the ties between LF and al-Mustaqbal Movement “have returned to how they were before,” vowing that the two parties will keep exerting efforts to “achieve March 14's project.”

“Today I'm glad because the relations between LF and Mustaqbal have returned to how they were before in the context of March 14's grand project and everything we are doing is aimed at achieving the project of (slain ISF intelligence chief) Wissam al-Hassan and March 14's project,” said Geagea after talks with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri at the Center House.

“We will not rest before achieving March 14's project,” Geagea pledged, a day after Hariri formally endorsed Geagea's presidential candidate Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun.

Hariri's previous endorsement of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh had strained his relations with Geagea and prompted the LF leader to endorse the candidacy of Aoun – his longtime Christian rival.

“I hail the courage of ex-PM Saad Hariri, who has not backed down on his stance, and this is not the first time that Sheikh Saad does this,” Geagea added

“We will have a president on October 31 and Saad Hariri will be the prime minister of the next government,” the LF leader said.

“I hope we will reach consensus on General Aoun's nomination before October 31, but if that didn't happen, all parties must remember that this is an election and this is how they must deal with the presidential file,” Geagea went on to say.

Asked whether the March 14 coalition is still functional after all the developments, the LF leader stressed that March 14's project is still alive, casting doubt over the cohesion of the March 8 alliance.

The meeting at Hariri's headquarters in downtown Beirut was held in the presence of Hariri's adviser ex-MP Ghattas Khoury and LF media officer Melhem Riachi.

The talks come after a morning meeting between Geagea and Aoun in Rabieh.

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.

Hariri had launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid have argued 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.

Comments 2
Thumb enterprise 21 October 2016, 22:26

Vows to 'Achieve March 14 Project'

lol

Default-user-icon Anonymous (Guest) 21 October 2016, 23:55

Samir Geagea has used the power of 8 March to hurt 8 March. What a genius!! God bless you 7akim.