Geagea Says Hizbullah Holds onto Plan to Control State's Strategic Decisions
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea slammed Hizbullah for rejecting serious dialogue on its arms and said it was too early to discuss about his possible candidacy for the presidential elections next year.
In an interview with Rose El Youssef Egyptian magazine that will be published on Saturday, Geagea said: “Hizbullah is not ready for any serious discussion on the state and holds onto its doctrine and political project.”
He accused the party of having a plan to “control the strategic decisions of the Lebanese state in addition to its armed forces.”
His comment came in response to a question on an initiative made by Speaker Nabih Berri to hold a several-day conclave at Baabda Palace to discuss several controversial issues, including the national defense strategy or Hizbullah's arsenal.
“All Lebanese political parties have a tendency to react positively to the initiative but the involved side is not ready to do so,” Geagea said.
Asked about the presidential elections, the LF chief said President Michel Suleiman “totally and clearly” rejects any extension of his mandate that ends in May 2014.
“We have to drop the choice of the extension from our calculations,” he said.
Geagea called for holding “serious elections away from complications because since the end of the (civil) war and under the pressure of the Assad regime there haven't been any true elections.”
“All what used to happen was an appointment on behalf of the Syrian regime,” he said.
On whether he intended to announce his candidacy for the top post, Geagea said: “It is still early to discuss about it. We still have eight months.”
The LF leader told his interviewer that the caretaker cabinet had failed as an executive authority.
“Resigned governments have huge responsibilities,” he said, adding that its “catastrophic failures” should be resolved through the formation of a new cabinet that keeps decision-making in its own hands rather than allowing Hizbullah to obstruct its mission.
Premier-designate Tammam Salam has so far failed to form his cabinet over conditions and counter-conditions set by the rival March 8 and 14 alliances.
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