Lebanese Forces Chief Samir Geagea said that Lebanese citizens have witnessed yet another sad day to be added to the list of those marking the failure to elect a new president for the country,” noting that the elections “were not a sudden event; therefore the political parties should have been prepared for the task at hand.”
In a press conference held in Mehrab Thursday, Geagea said Lebanon had witnessed a 15-year-long war before its constitution was redrafted, and now some are calling for amendments, he said, accusing the March 8 camp of hindering the presidency and leading the country towards a power vacuum.
“The March 8 forces are boycotting the sessions since they are uncertain of their success,” he added.
Earlier, Geagea said via Twitter that had the head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun and his deputies attended the
parliamentary electoral session, a “first-class president would have been elected.”
Geagea noted that “March 14 forces do not have a plan B, as long as the other team [March 8] remains attached to its position over the presidential elections,” adding that Hezbollah does not seek vacuum, but refuses to go against its ally.
Lebanese MPs have failed so far to elect a new president due to disputes between the March 8 and 14 camps.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who is the March 14 alliance's only candidate, failed in the first round to obtain the needed two-thirds of votes of the 128-member parliament.
Geagea won 48 of the votes cast by 124 deputies. His total was eclipsed by 52 blank papers submitted by political opponents determined to block his campaign but who have yet to rally behind any rival candidate.
After the first round, March 8's MPs have been boycotting the sessions, resulting in a lack of quorum.
March 8 did not yet officially announce its candidate. But the camp’s figures have reiterated that Lebanon needs a consensual person in the country's top Christian post.
President Michel Sleiman's tenure ends in May 2014 but the constitutional period to elect a new head of state began on March 25.
To watch Layal Haddad's report, please click on the VIDEO above