BEIRUT — Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Monday that he was ready to meet with Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, while MPs have still not managed to elect a new head of state due to the lack of consensus on a candidate.
"I am ready to receive Gebran Bassil, if we find something in common with him, and if he wants to vote for the candidate Michel Moawad, he is welcome," Geagea told Lebanese television channel MTV in an interview. "When an opposition candidate is able to get more votes than MP Michel Moawad, we and Mr. Moawad will vote for him," he also said.
So far Moawad has received the most votes so far of any candidate, from a large section of Parliament's opposition, including the LF, the Kataeb, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and independent MPs. But his votes haven't been enough to win the election, even in a possible run-off. Hezbollah and its allies, the Amal movement and the FPM, have so far voted blank.
On the other hand, Geagea said that "contact with former MP Sleiman Frangieh is ongoing through MPs Melhem Riachi and Tony Frangieh, but it is routine and is not related to the presidential election.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah needs to convince its biggest Christian ally, Bassil, to support its preferred candidate, Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh. If Hezbollah succeeds in convincing Bassil, Frangieh could then more easily obtain the support of many Sunni MPs and independents.