NNA - Member of the Kataeb parliamentary bloc, MP Salim al-Sayegh, considered that the nomination of former Minister Jihad Azour and the numbers advocating his candidacy prior to the session gave victory to the team that nominated him.
Speaking in an interview with “Radio Free Lebanon” this morning, al-Sayegh said that "the result that Azour achieved in the June 14th session was positive because the latter has not been involved in the Lebanese political arena for some time and has good international relations economically and is far from the regime."
He spoke about a third positive element in having 77 votes that did not advocate the opposition axis’ candidate.
"The opposition team understood that the liberals and Christians in Lebanon do not surrender, and we waited 1,500 years to gain our independence, and we lost two-thirds of our people through war and migration,” al-Sayegh went on, stressing that “those who think that we will move to the middle for fear of a Shiite-Christian confrontation are mistaken,” calling for “making a clear choice.”
Referring to the Elysee’s statement, al-Sayegh said: “The first indications I gathered reveal that there will be no endless vacuum, for there is international eagerness to speed up the solution, and I expect, along with other indications, that the matter will not last long and we will have a president in early summer, and therefore linking Lebanon to other regional dossiers may lead to its demise and final fall.”
Al-Sayegh continued to state that it is untrue that Iran does not interfere in the presidential elections in Lebanon, saying, "We demand with Patriarch Al-Rahi that the Lebanese issue be internationalized, and Iran is required to be present in this solution so that everyone assumes their responsibilities, as there are illegal weapons controlling the country."
He added, "We began to feel the French change in dealing with the Lebanese file before Le Drian was appointed, so they understood that it was impossible for Franjieh to be president in light of this Christian rejection towards him."
Finally, the Kataeb bloc member indicated that they had taken three steps within the presidential elections dossier, namely by nominating Michel Moawad as a first step, while the second was the Christian consensus over Jihad Azour’s candidacy and Moawad's withdrawal and the third was the serious presence in parliament whereas the other team escaped...”We are waiting for House Speaker Berri to call for a session and perform his duties so that we can implement the constitution,” al-Sayegh underscored.
