Rifi Hails Gemayel for Rejecting 'New Hegemony'

Resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Thursday lauded Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel for announcing that his party “will not take part in the current presidential deal.”

“Kataeb Party's stance reiterates commitment to the principles and rejection of surrendering to the new hegemony and I salute the party and its leader MP Sami Gemayel over this historic stance,” Rifi tweeted.

The minister has repeatedly warned that the election of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun as president would be equivalent to “surrendering the country to the Iranian project.”

Gemayel has also voiced rejection of the nominations of both Aoun and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh, stressing that Kataeb would not vote for a candidate endorsing the political vision of the Hizbullah-led March 8 camp.

Gemayel's stance on Thursday indicates that Kataeb's five MPs will cast blank votes.

Aoun was tipped to become president after al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri formally endorsed him last Thursday.

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 nomination 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.