Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri openly declared Wednesday that Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh is his presidential candidate while denying that he has demanded the prime minister post for himself.
“We stressed to Speaker Nabih Berri that we must stage the presidential election in a democratic manner,” said Hariri after talks with the speaker in Ain al-Tineh.
“Today there are three candidates and we must all head to parliament to practice this democratic right and reach the election of a president,” he added, referring to Franjieh, Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun and Democratic Gathering MP Henri Helou.
Asked why doesn't he “respect the will of the Christian majority” in light of the latest presidential agreement between the FPM and the Lebanese Forces, Hariri stressed that Franjieh is “one of the four” Christian leaders who met in Bkirki and agreed that “anyone of them enjoys the Christian cover” to become president.
“Each one of us is free to choose whomever they want and this is a political issue and a national issue that has to do with the entire political structure in Lebanon,” he added.
Hariri also stressed that the Lebanese have the ability to elect a president without any foreign interference, noting that the boycott of electoral sessions is not a “constitutional right.”