Gemayel: We May Need an Alternative Candidate, Resistance's Achievements Cannot be Ignored
Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel revealed on Tuesday that the March 14 alliance might reach a stage in which it will start “considering alternatives in the presidential race.”
"There is an ongoing electoral game, but we will reach a point when we will have to consider alternatives for presidency,” Gemayel said in an interview with al-Manar television.
He explained: “March 14's plan involves either succeeding in the voting rounds, or to start thinking about an alternative.”
The former president said his candidacy is “natural” if the Kataeb political bureau decided to nominate him for office.
"I will be a nominee if conditions were favorable and my election would serve all national principles (of the March 14 coalition),” he added.
On coordinating with the March 14 forces on the presidential vote, he said: “We have met together and we agreed on taking part in the elections, one round after another. And then, we will meet to evaluate the voting rounds and take a decision accordingly.”
“We are keen on electing a president,” he noted.
Answering a question on al-Mustaqbal Movement's role in the presidential elections, Gemayel acknowledged that the party has an important presence on the political scene in Lebanon, but stressed that the elections “is a Maronite and Christian matter.”
"This is what the National Pact said and we are not at all in favor of imposing a president on Christians who does not have a strong representation among the people,” he explained.
Gemayel expressed that he cannot ignore the achievements of Hizbullah's resistance, which include the South's liberation in 2000.
"The people in Lebanon have resisted and the Kataeb party has paid an costly price, and so did other parties, among them Hizbullah,” he told al-Manar reporter when asked about his stance on the resistance in comparison to that of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
He considered that the solution would be in dialogue, to reach an agreement on how to "protect the country against ongoing Israeli aggressions."
The Kataeb party's political bureau voted last week in favor of endorsing Geagea's candidacy in the first round of voting in the presidential race, but Gemayel ended up with one vote in his favor.
MPs failed on Wednesday to elect a new head of state as no nominee was able to garner the required two-thirds of votes.
Also on Tuesday, Gemayel evaluated the outcome of the first round of presidential vote with United States Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale.
The U.S. diplomat reiterated during the talks his country's keenness on holding the elections within the constitutional time-frame, and on avoiding vacuum and strengthening stability amid the current critical phase in the region.
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