MP Gemayel discusses presidential candidates, Hezbollah, and Syrian refugee crisis

The head of the Lebanese Kataeb Party, MP Sami Gemayel, emphasized that the security measures surrounding him are due to security threats and advice, along with an analysis of the current situation, without disclosing the nature of the threats or their source.

In an interview with the Kuwaiti newspaper "Al-Rai," conducted at his home in Bikfaya, Gemayel mentioned that when Hezbollah announces that it is no longer committed to its presidential choice and is willing to discuss alternatives, all possibilities open up for dialogue and discussion of candidates.

He added, "We don't have a camouflage candidate; we have a genuine candidate. Our main candidate is Michel Moawad, and we accepted Jihad Azour as a step towards accommodating the other team. However, they didn't meet us halfway. We went for a compromise candidate, Jihad Azour because he was a consensus choice among most opposition parties and was supported by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM)."

Gemayel questioned the insistence on negotiations while everyone knows each other's stances and why candidates are not publicly presented. He mentioned that there is no issue among Christians, as Maronite leaders have reached a consensus on Jihad Azour.

Regarding the Syrian refugee crisis, Gemayel noted that Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is a close friend of Bashar al-Assad, who is responsible for border control and preventing the return of refugees to Syria.

Gemayel stated, "Nasrallah wants them to return. Assad's regime is responsible for receiving its citizens in their homeland. Nasrallah is using his country and manipulating his suffering people as a card to pressure the international community to lift sanctions."

He concluded by explaining the proposal carried by the Qatari envoy, which included three presidential candidates, stating, "We are still considering the consensus list of names. At the beginning of the crisis, under the initiative of Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, there was a proposal with 11 names, and we excluded three because they belonged to parties that disqualify them from being compromise candidates (Sleiman Frangieh, Ibrahim Kanaan, and Michel Moawad)."