Geagea: We're Living Historic Moments and We'll Have '100% Made in Lebanon' President
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Wednesday that the country is going through “historic moments” with the looming election of a “100 percent made in Lebanon” president.
“We are living historic moments, even if not everyone is satisfied,” said Geagea at a Maarab conference on oil and gas exploration in Lebanon.
“We managed to do a lot of things regarding the presidency. There was a veto on the presidential election and there was a very big decision to block it, and I'll leave it to your imagination to guess where it was coming from,” he added.
“Our conscience is clear and we have made a big achievement for the sake of the country,” Geagea boasted.
He also stressed that the Lebanese will soon have a “100 percent made in Lebanon” president.
“Some Lebanese refuse to believe that we have a national will. Some countries do not want elections in Lebanon but as soon as some political forces reached an agreement in Lebanon, they managed to reach a 100% 'made in Lebanon' presidential vote,” Geagea added.
The LF leader played a key role in supporting the presidential nomination of Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun after the two parties reached a political agreement after months of rapprochement talks.
Aoun was tipped to become president after his nomination was formally endorsed by al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri on 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 Hizbullah's ally and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
Hariri's move prompted Geagea to endorse Aoun's nomination.
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.
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