Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea has stressed that security and strategic decisions should only be made by the Lebanese state to have a strong Republic.
“The first and basic condition to have a powerful Republic is to give back the Lebanese state mainly security, military and strategic decisions,” said Geagea in an interview with France 24 that will be broadcast on Tuesday.
“We have continuously asked Hizbullah … to hand over its arms to the Lebanese army or else we will remain in a virtual” state, he said.
Asked about the vacuum at Baabda Palace, Samir Geagea reiterated that lawmakers who are boycotting parliamentary sessions aimed at electing a new president are to be blamed.
A head of state has so far not been elected over lack of quorum, said the presidential candidate in excerpts of the interview published by his press office.
The majority of the March 8 alliance MPs, mainly from the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc and the Change and Reform bloc, are boycotting the sessions.
Geagea also spoke in the interview about the dialogue between the LF and Free Patriotic Movement.
“The speed of the talks is not the same in several of the dialogue's paths,” he said.
“There has been some progress in certain issues such as parliamentary cooperation … But some other files such as political issues have seen a slow development,” Samir Geagea told his interviewer.
He stressed, however, that “both the FPM and the LF have the full conviction and intention for this dialogue to continue.”
The talks between the two rivals' officials are expected to culminate in a meeting between Geagea and FPM chief MP Michel Aoun, who is another presidential candidate.
Source: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/174550-geagea-strong-republic-requires-decisions-to-be-limited-to-the-state