Movements and contacts of political forces and parliamentary blocs escalated in parallel with the shuttle rounds of a number of candidates working to break the presidential stalemate.
This comes as a number of opposition MPs continue to sit inside the parliament hall, entering its ninth day, to push for holding open sessions to elect the president.
The movements of the political forces come in the absence of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s calls to hold a session to elect a president for the country, as is customary every Thursday, and in the midst of a suffocating economic and living crisis with a significant deterioration in the price of the local currency, and this is accompanied by a sharp division in the judicial body on the background The case of the Beirut port explosion.
Lebanon was unable to cross the presidential vacancy period after 11 parliamentary sessions to elect a successor to outgoing President Michel Aoun, who left office at the end of last October.
Jumblatt’s surprise
In light of the stalemate, and in order to open a gap in the thick presidential wall, the elections are witnessing shuttle rounds by prominent political forces, in addition to the movements of the presidential candidates and potential candidates on more than one front.
During the past two days, the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, took the initiative to address all political forces, in an attempt to find a common space in order to avoid the worst.
Following the meeting of the Hezbollah delegation a few days ago, local media reported a meeting with the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Representative Gebran Bassil, and two days ago he met with the head of the Kataeb Party, Representative Sami Gemayel.
After these meetings, Jumblatt appeared to announce a surprising position, as he talked about the army commander, Joseph Aoun, being among 3 names that bear his support for the presidency, despite his parliamentary bloc’s vote for Representative Michel Moawad during the previous parliament sessions that were held over the past months.
“national settlement”
And local media quoted the head of the Progressive Socialist Party as saying that he is leading extensive contacts with various political forces to solve the political deadlock in the presidential elections, explaining that he had put forward three names to be agreed upon, one of which would push him into the parliamentary elections.
Jumblatt confirmed that the names include the current Lebanese army commander, Joseph Aoun, former Finance Minister Jihad Azour, director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund, and Salah Hanin, the politician and former deputy, stressing that he is ready to put forward other names for the sake of consensus.
In his comment, Representative Bilal Abdullah, a member of the Democratic Gathering Bloc, said in an interview with Al-Ain News that “the meeting presents dialogue initiatives and exits to the crisis that threatens the dissolution of the country,” adding, “We are waiting for initiatives, response and readiness of others for a national settlement.” The outside has not yet taken the initiative to put forward serious and real initiatives regarding the crisis of electing a president for Lebanon.
When asked about the possibility of the army commander becoming a solution to the presidential election crisis, a member of the Democratic Gathering replied, “This is due to the combined political forces and parliamentary blocs, because removing the option requires 86 quorum votes.”
dead end
Regarding the “Democratic Gathering” abandoning Moawad’s support, the Secretary of the Democratic Gathering bloc, MP Hadi Abu Al-Hassan, explained in a radio interview today, that “the aim of the move taken by the head of the Progressive Socialist Party was not to shoot the candidacy of Michel Moawad,” pointing out that “Jumblatt’s meeting with Hezbollah was the beginning of breaking the stalemate in the presidential file.”
He explained that “we did not say that we have left Michel Moawad, but rather we said that we have reached a dead end, so let’s expand the fan and put forward acceptable names publicly so as to breach the wall of the crisis.”
He pointed out that “the other team considers Moawad a challenge candidate, and we put forward 3 names on which Hezbollah has not yet clearly expressed its opinion, and we learned from the meeting that its candidate is still Suleiman Franjieh without announcing it officially.”
Frangieh and Basil
On the line of the patriarchal edifice in Bkerke, two days ago, Patriarch Beshara Al-Rai received the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Franjieh, and a day earlier, he met with the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Basil.
In his messages to the regional interior and abroad, Franjieh, who enjoys the support of Hezbollah, said after meeting the patriarch: “I want to be consensual, and we are fundamental in the Taef project, and I came to enlighten the patriarch’s opinion. It is my constitutional right to run for the presidency.”
In an attempt to burn the papers of his opponents for the presidency, the Marada president said: “Gebran Bassil has his reasons for rejecting me, as matters are greater than his absorptive capacity, and I am not against the army commander, Joseph Aoun, but what is his political project?”, According to Franjieh’s statements, which were reported by local media.
And he added, “If Representative Michel Moawad reaches the presidency, we will cooperate with him, but this does not mean that we will elect him. He asked: Is Moawad a consensual candidate?”
Franjieh also stressed that he is “not a challenging candidate, not Hezbollah’s candidate, and that he never announced his candidacy except when he obtained sufficient votes to be elected president of the republic.”
On the other hand, Gebran Bassil sought to block the road to “Franjieh”, saying from Bkerke after his meeting with Patriarch Al-Rahi: The leader of the Marada Movement derives his strength from the Shiite duo, and not from the large Christian blocs such as the Free Patriotic Movement, or the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb Party, As well as changeable and independent Christian deputies who may not support Franjieh, according to local newspapers.
Forces: We will not elect a president who does not look like us
On the other hand, the “Lebanese Forces” party, which until now supports Michel Moawad, has begun intensive contacts with blocs and independent representatives to prepare a parliamentary petition calling on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to hold open sessions to elect the president of the republic.
Representative Ghassan Hasbani, a member of the Strong Republic Bloc, said in a previous interview with Al-Ain News: “We will complete during the coming period the signatures of the members of the Council on a petition calling for holding open sessions to elect the president, which will be presented at a later time to the Speaker of the Council.”
Meanwhile, MP Melhem Al-Riyashi, a member of the Strong Republic Bloc, confirmed in press statements today, “The file of the presidency of the republic is complicated, but at the same time things have begun to take the path of regression towards certain names that may be the solution to the dilemma of the presidency,” noting that “the battle of names is not decisive.” Yet, it is certain that we will not elect a president who does not look like us, and we will not act contrary to our convictions.
From the previous sessions for the election of the President of the Republic in the House of Representatives, a clear parliamentary division appeared, distributed between about 44 votes for the head of the independence movement, MP Michel Moawad, and 44 for the white paper, while the other deputies, including independents and representatives of the forces of change, did not define a clear position on the presidential election.