Lebanon's three crucial days
With less than 72 hours to go before the deadline for Lebanon to elect a new president, the parliament is still no closer to a consensus.
In the next three days, a consensus president of Lebanon should emerge, yet the parliamentary deadlock makes this impossible. Out of the four Maronite leaders, only one has declared his candidacy: Samir Geagea. Gen. Michel Aoun, who believes himself a possible consensus candidate, is considered equally controversial as the declared March 14 candidate.
“As a citizen, I witnessed the conflicts of those leaders, which seem to never end. I fear that if any of them was elected president, he would seek revenge against the others," said President Michel Suleiman in an interview with local Beirut daily As-Safir.
Suleiman, whose term ends May 24, said he did not support any particular candidate. While describing the leaders of the key Maronite political parties as perennial candidates for the presidency, he added that the four “are too divisive due to their civil war actions and modern political stances.”
This indictment of the four supposed leaders of the Maronites in Lebanon may mean that a consensus president from outside this group should succeed him and possibly continue his legacy.
