FPM, PSP send different political messages during eleventh presidential elections session

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Despite its monotony and repetition of the scenes of the previous sessions, two political messages were carried during the eleventh session to elect the president.

Limited was the response of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) in the parliament session to convening the last cabinet session.

As expected, the FPM did not break the bond with Hezbollah and Amal movement and exit from the White Ballots team.

The bloc chose to distribute its votes between white ballots, former Minister Ziyad Baroud, and the "presidential priorities paper" term, which was cast by eight MPs of the bloc.

This shuffling of cards was able to reduce the number of the White Ballots team, which includes Amal Movement, Hezbollah, and a number of their allies, in favor of the canceled ballots, which numbered 15, which is what the FPM intended to do while still preserving its position within its allies as it did not move to name a candidate alternative to the white ballots.

On the one hand, the FPM does not have an alternative candidate to support because the party is convinced that putting forward any serious name means securing a minimum level of consensus on it and a reasonable number of votes, which is not possible without its allies, and also because if the FPM took such a step, the party would be announcing the end of its alliance with Hezbollah, which is precisely what the party has been trying to avoid.

A second political message from the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), whose bloc leader Taymou Jumblatt and several of the party's parliamentary bloc members were absent. MP Hadi Aboul Hosn announced the political message on the PSP's behalf.

Aboul Hosn has addressed the PSP's message to all the political actors in parliament, especially those who are considered obstructive by the party, i.e., the duo of Amal and Hezbollah, and with it, the FPM.

According to LBCI information, the PSP is seriously threatening to boycott the presidential election sessions, but the matter is still just an idea being discussed among the bloc's MPs.

The threat of non-participation announced in Thursday's session is due to the disregard for the handling of the presidential file by the political actors. PSP sources added that many actors are betting on external forces which do not have Lebanon among their priorities until this day.

The sources add that what is required is an initiative or an internal movement to break the deadlock in the presidential file. This does not necessarily mean that the PSP will call on other blocs to boycott the sessions as well, adding that the idea of boycotting the presidential sessions is limited to the PSP until now.

So will parliamentary blocs start an actual boycott, or will it remain just a threat to urge change or perhaps to open an internal dialogue between the blocs?