Geagea: Saudi Arabia Had Nothing to Do with Salam's Nomination but Influenced Jumblat's Stance
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea asserted on Monday that Saudi Arabia had nothing to do with nominating Beirut MP Tammam Salam to head the new cabinet, revealing that Riyadh had only influenced Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat's stance.
"March 14 is the party that named Salam,” Geagea stated in an interview on MTV.
He elaborated: “When we named him, the kingdom welcomed the step, exactly like it would have welcomed any other candidate.”
"Hegemony is the Syrian regime's specialty while Saudi Arabia is not a regime of hegemony, regardless of our stance on the Saudi regime, which is a Wahhabist regime but only inside Saudi Arabia,” he noted.
“Saudi Arabia has endorsed the stance of neutrality towards the domestic Lebanese issues.”
Geagea explained that Riyadh's role was to “convince Walid Jumblat of March 14's candidate in light of his reconciliation with the kingdom.”
Denying Jumblat's remarks that he had suggested Salam for the premiership, Geagea said: “Tammam Salam was first nominated by the March 14 forces and Jumblat joined the settlement later on and this is the truth”.
“(Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen.) Ashraf Rifi's name was raised over the last five days, and I was with such a nomination, but then we started discussing non-provocative candidates and Salam's name was suggested. (Former premier) Saad Hariri then told Jumblat there are two candidates -- Salam and Rifi -- and Jumblat picked Salam.”
Salam assumed the position of prime minister-designate on the second day of binding parliamentary consultations on Saturday after garnering a total of 124 votes by lawmakers.
The MP had paid a visit to Saudi Arabia, shortly before he was nominated for premiership, where he met with Hariri and Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, sparking rumors that his nomination is part of a Saudi-sponsored settlement that includes the formation of the cabinet and the staging of parliamentary elections.
"March 8 wanted to renominate (caretaker PM Najib) Miqati, but (Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel) Aoun did not accept the renomination," Geagea said.
"Miqati's resignation was a local issue because he was fed up and reports of an agreement over the Iranian issue are incorrect as the confrontation between the Arab states and Iran is still at its climax," he added.
Geagea pointed out that Salam was “the only person who showed solidarity with Christians in their boycott of the 1992 elections.”
“I seriously wish PM-designate Salam all success and he is a man of principles,” he added.
On the cabinet's formation process, Geagea said the new government must be tasked with staging the elections “as the PM-designate said.”
“Therefore any cabinet similar to the cabinets we saw in the past will not be formed before months and the elections would be postponed indefinitely,” he remarked.
The LF leader said “Hariri wants a technocrat cabinet and the rest of March 14 parties are close to this approach.”
"Amid such a critical political situation, do we need a political government that would collapse from infighting? The March 14 camp wants to seek the assistance of the army and U.N. forces on the border with Syria, would the other camp accept that in a political government?" he cautioned.
Turning to the issue of the electoral law, Geagea noted that “the battle is not the battle of the Orthodox law, but rather the battle of the new electoral law.”
“We've been seeking a consensual law since two months. It's a good thing that all Christian parties have agreed to seek a hybrid law,” added Geagea.
“A hybrid law would achieve good Christian representation and it is wrong to discuss the numbers because the fate of the country is at stake,” he went on to say.
He also stressed that the LF “does not have a problem with the independent Christians, but every person must bear responsibility for his choices.”
Source: Naharnet
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