Lebanon to poll Christians on choice for president
The leaders of Lebanon's main Christian factions have agreed on a proposal by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to poll Lebanese Christians on their favored presidential candidate.
Ever since the presidential vacuum started on May 25, 2014, Lebanese Christian political circles seem to be striving to find an innovative solution to the crisis. Their latest effort is a joint political-ecclesiastical proposal to poll Lebanon’s Christian communities on the Maronite candidate that would garner the largest proportion of supporters among Christians.
Talk of the idea first emerged during a May 15 press conference held by the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, who put forth a number of proposals to overcome the presidential vacuum. Amid the proposals was a general public opinion poll to identify the person with the greatest Christian popular support.
Two weeks later, on June 2, the leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, visited Aoun at his residence, to announce the signing of a memorandum of intent between the two, culminating a series of indirect negotiations between them after a quarter century of hostility and enmity.
During his visit to Aoun, Geagea was asked his opinion concerning Aoun’s proposals about the presidential vacuum. Geagea replied that he did not mind the holding of a Christian public opinion poll regarding that issue in particular. Thus, it seemed as if the two largest Christian factions were in agreement on the idea, giving the impression that the proposal was being seriously considered.
