Report: Gemayel to Announce Candidacy this Week
Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel has informed his allies that he would officially announce his candidacy for the presidency, the party's officials said.
As Safir daily quoted the officials, who were not identified, as saying that Gemayel, a former president, informed the March 14 coalition that he would make the announcement by the end of this week.
According to An Nahar newspaper, the Kataeb leadership held a meeting on Wednesday night to assess the presidential elections after Speaker Nabih Berri called for a meeting to elect a new head of state on April 23 and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea launched his program.
Geagea is the sole politician to have officially announced his candidacy for the polls.
Other candidates include Gemayel, who along with Geagea is a member of March 14, and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, who according to sources in al-Joumhouria has informed his March 8 ally Hizbullah that he is prepared to take the post if there was consensus on him.
Aoun has reportedly sent similar messages to al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri who leads the March 14 camp.
Berri has said that any candidate must secure two-thirds of votes to win in the first round of elections and half-plus-one or 65 votes of the 128-member parliament to win in the second round.
A Kataeb official told An Nahar that the party does not veto any candidate.
But he stressed that “no one asked the Kataeb on its point of view although it is in continuous contact with all parties.”
The official hinted that Gemayel is capable of receiving the support of MPs from outside the two major camps – the March 8 and 14 alliances.
He said Kataeb lawmakers will attend the parliamentary session next Wednesday.
Kataeb MP Elie Marouni also told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) that his party believes Gemayel could be a strong president.
Parliament should choose a head of state by May 25, when President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends.
G.K.
H.K.
10 years
the region needs settlement so the most wanted now a person who can inject morphine into our bstream ... i think jaja-aoun no for sure so a middle man who had a long history as gemayel have a big chance
10 years
Gemayel has more chances reaching the presidency then Gaga the fool and the murderer.
The best candidate would be Ziad Baroud anyway from all considered names we are hearing.
10 years
your opinion is as valid as your screen name
10 years
Why so ? Because they have several candidates ?
The end of M8 came long ago when they refuse to follow democratic processes and leaders only wanting to present their candidacy if they have no competition on the other side.
And there can be no end to M14.
M14 is bigger than it's politicians. M14 is the movement that kicked Syria out of Lebanon and politicians have nothing to do with it ! Even Aoun likes to remind people that he and his followers are M14.
10 years
Why not Sami Gemayel? He sure hails from a party that has accepted to offer many sacrifices for the nation, has paid in lives big time, and Sami is young, courageous and more in touch with the aspirations of our youth.
10 years
Behind Amin Gemayel is the picture of the one big hope we had for Lebanon, Pierre Gemayel junior. Di3anak ya Pierre, you left us too early, just like Bachir, your deaths have taken away from the Lebanese the hope we all had. I know this has little to do with this thread, but I just wanted to pay my respects and salutes to one of Lebanon's best contemporary hopes. Allah yer7amak ya Sheikh Pierre, rou7ak bil sama.
10 years
Last month if my memory serves me right, Italy elected a young new PM to lead the nation. Italy felt positive changes as soon as he swore allegiance to the nation, something that the older generation could not provide, vision, courage and in sync with our realities. Today the youthful Italian PM is giving Italy that much needed breath of fresh air, so why can't we Lebanese have that same courage and vision? We have a youth that does us proud, it has all the education and patriotism prerequisite that makes excellent leaders, why are we so hesitant? Why do we fall-back on leaders of old that now have nothing new to offer? Why the inertia, why? Must we wait till another big chunk of our youth leaves for other shores again? Or another round of violence accompanied by more economic downturns to start kick-starting our vision for a better leadership? If Italy could do it, so can we.
10 years
Phoenix1, having young presidents is all fine and dandy. But for Lebanon in its current state, I don't think so. Couple of questions:
1- would a young president be able to convince/force HA to give up its armed wing?
2- would a young president be able to force new dynamics in governance in the presence of the old guard?
3- would a young president with no international experience be able to stand up and face regional powers, especially Syria?
It will be interesting to observe which MPs and which blocks will boycott the presidential elections and under which excuse. My bet is on the terror party's MPs, Berri, and some of the FPM.