Geagea may withdraw Lebanese presidential bid

Lebanese presidential hopeful Samir Geagea said on Thursday he is ready to withdraw his bid in favour of a new allied candidate.

“I will withdraw my candidacy if consensus is reached on another March 14 figure,” Geagea said in a statement following talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai who often plays a mediating role in Lebanese Christian politics.  

The country has been in deadlock over the presidential nomination for months, with lawmakers split between the Hezbollah-backed March 8 camp, and the March 14 camp which encompasses Geagea’s Lebanese Forces party.

Gaegae’s bid is seen as extremely controversial and has already been rejected by March 8 twice.

The former militia leader, is said to be behind some of the most brutal episodes of Lebanon’s civil war that raged from 1975 to 1990 and killed at least 150,000. He served 11 years for his involvement in the conflict, and is the only Lebanese militia leader to have been imprisoned for crimes committed during the war.

While many Lebanese leaders also have contentious pasts, Gaegae has remained extremely polarising, even among Christians, and is known for his ardently anti-Hezbollah views and repeated demands that the Shiite group disarm.

Under the peace deal to end the 15-year civil war, Lebanon’s President must be a Christian, the Prime Minister a Sunni, and the parliamentary speaker a Shiite. A two-thirds parliamentary majority is needed to elect a new president, with time fast running out to find a replacement for President Michael Sleiman whose term ends on May 25.

Gaegae’s statements could spell a game changer, with Gaegae previously vowing to fight on despite March 8 objections.