Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea expressed his disagreement during an interview on the "Hashtag Political" program with journalist Ali Hamada on "Hello London TV." He stated that he does not share the view that the nomination of former Minister Jihad Azour for the presidency will lead to increased escalation potentially resulting in dire consequences, questioning this perspective.
In response to a question about reaching the nomination of Azour despite the differences among the groups that converged around this nomination, Geagea reminded that "our candidate was MP Michel Moawad," and that since the conclusion of the last parliamentary elections, it has been clear that there are two teams in the country: the effective ruling coalition consisting of "Hezbollah," "Amal Movement," "the Free Patriotic Movement," and their allies, and the other team, which he prefers to call "the other team" rather than "the opposition team."
Regarding his belief that they managed to score a point that could potentially lead to the downfall of the nomination of Sleiman Frangieh, Geagea commented: "We cannot say that, as the goal is not to eliminate his nomination per se, as if things are personal, but rather we aim to avoid remaining in the current presidential stalemate."
When asked if he was concerned about the "movement's" stance supporting Azour's nomination, given the questions he has about Bassil's commitment to it, and whether the former President Michel Aoun's visit to Syria could undermine the movement's firm position, Geagea stated: "About two months ago, we were close to nominating Azour, but based on our previous experiences with the movement, we were not convinced of their seriousness in this matter."
Regarding Aoun's visit, he believed that "if this visit aims to restore relations with the resistance team, then it should have been made in a narrow partisan context, not as a relationship between two states for the benefit of the two peoples."
He emphasized that discussing the transition from "Shiite duality" to "Christian triad" is a mischaracterization. Geagea did not rule out that the 12th session could be "more troublesome" than previous ones by disrupting the quorum in the first round or by not attending the session at all.
He revealed that "Patriarch Al-Rahi carried the majority's position with him to the Vatican and France, considering that before his travel, he had been informed by us and the movement, the Kataeb, the Liberals, and the independent MPs about the new stance of MP Michel Moawad or MP Ni'mat Afram or others."
He warned against "heading toward a security shock, whatever happens, as it will not lead to a solution. However, we must reconsider everything that exists, and I mean what I mean; I do not mean to think about a unified Lebanon but rather about its form within the unit, which is the natural matter."
