Hezbollah endorses Aoun as Lebanon's President

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah confirmed Sunday that his party MPs will not boycott the upcoming presidential electoral session and that they will vote to elect Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Michel Aoun as the president.

Nasrallah said in a televised speech marking a week since the death in Syria of Hezbollah commander Hatem Hamade.

"Our commitment to General Michel Aoun's nomination is final. The Loyalty to Resistance bloc will attend the session and all the members will vote for General Aoun," he said.

Aoun, a former army general and member of the Syrian and Iranian backed March 8 camp, has been a candidate since the end of the six-year term of former President Michel Suleiman on May 25, 2014.

But the Saudi and western backed camp opposed at the beginning the candidacy of Aoun, and backed the candidacy of the Lebanese Forces leader Samir Gegagea to the post, while the Centrist Democratic Gathering led by MP Walid Jumblatt announced the candidacy of its member MP Henri Helou to the post.

However, after a failed initiative last year by Al-Mustaqbal leader and former PM Saad Hariri to elect Al-Marada and March 8 leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, Geagea withdrew his candidacy and backed Aoun.

Hariri also announced Thursday that he is backing Aoun, saying "this decision stems from the need to protect Lebanon, the political system, the state and people."

Nasrallah also stressed that he is not opposed to the re-designation of Hariri as premier, describing the stance as a "very big sacrifice." Endit