Dubai: The Lebanese residents of Dubai hope their next president will bring security to the country.
With the Lebanese elections set to take place on Wednesday, residents interviewed by Gulf News all seemed to agree that safety and stability should be at the top of the future president’s agenda.
In Lebanon, the president, who has to be a Maronite Christian, is elected by the 128-member parliament, which in turn is elected by the people.
To win the elections the candidate must receive a two-thirds majority in the first round or half-plus-one, or 65 votes. Also, 65 votes are required to confirm victory after round two.
So far only Samir Geagea and Robert Ganem have officially confirmed their candidacy.
Arshaf Mohammad hopes the next president will be chosen in consensus by the March 8 bloc led by Hezbollah and Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, and the March 14 bloc led by Sa’ad Hariri’s Future movement.
“I don’t have any particular preferences out of the current or potential candidates,” said Mohammad. “All I want is for him to be chosen in consensus by both parties so that they can focus on achieving stability in Lebanon instead of fighting each other.”
Mohammad predicts that Jean Kahwaji, the current Commander of the Army, Brigadier-General, to nominate himself and win the elections. However, he dismisses the possibility of Samir Geagea, Michel Aoun or even March 14 winning because he doubts they will receive the needed votes.
“As a person who cares about the country and has family living in Lebanon, I would like the next president to have a strong character so that he can implement his decisions on both parties,” Mohammad said.
Student Mariam Yaseen is sceptical as to whether any of the candidates will be able to achieve stability in the country, which she believes can only be done by bringing all parties together.
“We should all be one hand — that is the only way that the country will become stable,” she said. “I don’t know who will be elected and I don’t think it even matters because the president cannot control the sects and parties in the country. They do whatever they want.”
Student Maria Jacob, who said she stopped watching news about her country, agreed with Yaseen.
“Regardless of who is going to be elected as president, all I want as a Lebanese resident living in the UAE is to feel safe when I go back home on vacation.”
Jacob believes that a person regardless of their religion should be allowed to become a candidate. “For the elections to be fair everyone should have the opportunity to nominate themselves,” she said. “I am not saying that the Lebanese elections are not transparent. I just think that every party is thinking about themselves and not the country as a whole.”
