Lebanon: LF Leader Says Open to All Solutions to Avoid Disrupting Presidential Elections

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
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Lebanon: LF Leader Says Open to All Solutions to Avoid Disrupting Presidential Elections

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (Lebanese Forces)

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea affirmed his openness to all solutions to avoid disrupting the presidential elections, including negotiating with the deputies who did not name anyone in the last session if they had a serious proposal.

He criticized the lawmakers who did not vote for any candidate, accusing them of wasting their votes and helping those who sought to disrupt the elections.

Member of Parliament Michel Moawad received 42 votes in the last parliamentary session to elect a president, including the votes of LF lawmakers and its allies. At the same time, the session saw 55 blank notes and 17 ballots for a "new Lebanon," which were nullified.

Geagea said on Friday during a meeting with students in NDU that if Michel Moawad had obtained 66 votes in the last presidential election session, “then reality would have imposed itself."

He noted that the other party would have no longer been able to disrupt the quorum because it would eventually have to head to elections, given that there is a candidate who received the majority.

Geagea said, during his meeting with the LF students at NDU University after they won student elections, that the 22 MPs can save the country from the vacuum in the next session if they don't waste their votes.

He indicated that there is plenty of time for talks to reach a solution, adding that the party is open to all resolutions and ready to negotiate with a representative if they have a serious proposal.

The 22 MPs can make this vote succeed, and we are waiting for their proposals," Geagea insisted.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah is also pushing for consensus on a presidential candidate.

The member of Hezbollah’s Shura Council, Sheikh Mohammad Yazbek, said that the parliament sessions are still taking place without electing a president, asserting that no bloc or party will be able to impose a president, regardless of the foreign support it receives.

Yazbek said the lawmakers must negotiate and agree on a candidate representing the Lebanese and not a president for a particular group.

He asserted that all members of the parliament must agree on a solid figure representing Lebanon, its people, army, and resistance, stating that there is no turning back and the theory of “Lebanon’s strength in its weakness” has ended.



France Says it Obtains Palestinian Reform Pledge ahead of Conference

France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the European Ocean Pact during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which gathers leaders, researchers and activists to discuss how to protect marine life, in Nice, France, June 9, 2025. Laurent Cipriani/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo
France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the European Ocean Pact during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which gathers leaders, researchers and activists to discuss how to protect marine life, in Nice, France, June 9, 2025. Laurent Cipriani/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo
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France Says it Obtains Palestinian Reform Pledge ahead of Conference

France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the European Ocean Pact during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which gathers leaders, researchers and activists to discuss how to protect marine life, in Nice, France, June 9, 2025. Laurent Cipriani/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo
France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the European Ocean Pact during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which gathers leaders, researchers and activists to discuss how to protect marine life, in Nice, France, June 9, 2025. Laurent Cipriani/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo

France said on Tuesday it had obtained new commitments from the Palestinian Authority to reform, ahead of a conference next week at which Paris could become the most prominent Western power to back recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

President Emmanuel Macron has received a letter from Mahmoud Abbas in which the Palestinian president condemns the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack against Israel, calls on all hostages to be released and pledges further reforms, the Elysee said, Reuters reported.

Abbas, 89, has headed the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004.

The letter to Macron, who is working on organizing an international conference with Saudi Arabia to discuss recognition of Palestine, contains "unprecedented" pledges, Macron's office said, without elaborating.

"Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian Security Forces, which will oversee their removal outside the Occupied Palestinian territory, with Arab and international support," the French leader's office quoted Abbas as having written in the letter.

Israel has said it will not accept any role for the PA in Gaza after the war and has denounced countries that consider recognizing Palestinian independence, which it says would reward Hamas for its attacks.

French officials have said Macron is leaning towards recognizing a Palestinian state ahead of the UN conference which France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting from June 17-20.