Geagea’s Nomination for Aoun Reshapes Lebanese Politics
On Monday, January 19, the Lebanese Christian politician and the leader of the “Lebanese Forces”, Samir Geagea, backed his rival Michel Aoun, who is supported by Hezbollah, for presidency, which has been vacant for 20 months now, thus reshaping the Lebanese politics.
On Monday, January 18, the Lebanese Christian politician and the leader of the “Lebanese Forces”, Samir Geagea, backed his rival Michel Aoun, who is supported by Hezbollah, for presidency, which has been vacant for 20 months now, thus reshaping the Lebanese politics.
However, this move does not seem to solve the problem of the presidential election as there are internal reservations from both political opponents and his team, against him.
Although Geagea’s decision didn’t surprise those who tag along the Lebanese political movement, yet it will shift the relations within the existing political alliances to a new stage that might be entitled “Recount the alliances and Creation of New Alignments in the Country”.
The rapprochement may kill-off a proposal by Hariri, who nominated another Maronite, Suleiman Franjieh, for the presidency in a power-sharing proposal that would have made him prime minister. Moreover, electing Aoun may also shake the March 8 alliance since the Speaker of the Parliament, Nabih Berri, is against this decision along with MP Walid Jumblatt and Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh.
In a common matter, the Military Court of Cassation’s decision to release the former Minister Michel Samaha, who was on trial for terrorism-related issues, kept the Lebanese internal situation unstable because it raised the issue of the special courts and their role, especially the military court.
The Lebanese Justice Minister, Ashraf Rifi, submitted a request to the Cabinet to transfer the retrial of former Information Minister Michel Samaha from the Military Tribunal to the Judicial Council.
His request to the Cabinet included an article pertaining to the establishment of specialized courts that look into terror cases and also ban further civilian trying before the Military Tribunal.