Geagea: March 14 to Elect Harb or Nassib Lahoud if It Had to

by **Admin** Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:51 am

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea warned that the pro-government ruling camp would "if it had to" elect one of two presidential hopefuls -- Butros Harb or Nassib Lahoud.

Geagea, in an interview published by the daily An Nahar on Thursday, ruled out presidential elections in Lebanon would take place ahead of an Arab summit scheduled in Damascus March 29-30.

"We will discuss the next steps after the summit," Geagea said from New York.

Geagea stressed that the ruling March 14 coalition "should reach a settlement" to the ongoing political crisis and "establish an interim rule."

Geagea denied he will run for presidency if efforts to elect Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman failed.

"If the majority (March 14 Forces) had to elect a president by a half-plus-one (of MPs' vote) it ill certainly chose one of its two candidates – MP Butros Harb or former MP Nassib Lahoud," Geagea stressed.

He pointed out that the anti-Syrian March 14 alliance faced only two options in its struggle against the Hizbullah-led opposition: Either election of a president by a simple majority vote or "renovation" of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, an alternative rejected by government opponents "because they don't want an effective government."

Geagea, however, said that in the event the political crisis dragged on, Lebanon will face two projects: A project by March 14 Forces which calls for the "resurrection of a strong, free and democratic state," or the opposition's scheme "which means consolidating Iran's and Syria's control" over Lebanon.

Geagea had earlier told members of the Lebanese community in New York that Lebanon is the gateway for democracy in the Middle East.

"We cannot speak about promoting democracy and freedom in the region without focusing on Lebanon," he said.

"Freedom in Lebanon is already irreversible," Geagea added.