From his stronghold of Meerab, on the heights of Mount Lebanon, the leader of the Christian right, Samir Geagea, went on the offensive on Saturday, October 12. A poster announces the program: “1701. 1680. 1559”the number of UN Security Council resolutions calling for the restoration of Lebanon’s sovereignty and the disarmament of Hezbollah. For the leader of the Lebanese Forces (FL), this program should guide the steps of the future president, a position vacant for almost two years. TO “credible president”insists Geagea, whose immediate choice is “only option” achieve a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
These demands are not new, but the Christian leader believes that the time has come. The death of his old adversary, Hassan Nasrallah, killed on September 27 in an Israeli attack, had the effect of an earthquake on the Lebanese political scene. It opens a gap into which the FL leader intends to rush. The weakening of Hezbollah, until now ultra-dominant in Lebanon, raises hopes of a rebalancing of the balance of power. “We do not want to eliminate or isolate Hezbollah”Geagea specifies, adding that the Shiite movement “it must become a party like any other”. The call launched by the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and then by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to the lebanese “impose” facing Hezbollah encourages FL to put pressure on its pawns.
Washington, which has prioritized the presidential file, is said to support the candidacy of General Joseph Aoun, commander in chief of the armies. The sexagenarian does not crystallize any real veto over his name. In the chancelleries we salute “political sense” which he demonstrated in this war and in the issue of the displaced. But Samir Geagea does not support this candidacy. At 71 years old, the latter assures that he is not thinking about the presidency, vacant due to differences in Parliament with Hezbollah. But those around him are less categorical. “He is a natural candidate, if only because he has the largest group [Christian)[chrétien)[Cristiano)[chrétien) in Parliament »defends the FL deputy, Pierre Bouassi.
Close to Saudi Arabia and the United States, Geagea represents “a challenge app” in the eyes of his political adversaries, who defend, such as the President of Parliament, Nabih Berri, “a consensus president”. At 86 years old, this old wolf of Lebanese politics is a man “broken”in his words, for the death of his traveling companion, Hassan Nasrallah, aged thirty-three. He is the only leader who now embodies the interests of the Shiite community, battered by war and overwhelmed by displacement.
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