Will Bassil, Frangieh visit to Bkerke break the presidential stalemate?

3^min

The words of Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh from Bkerke came as an announcement of candidacy for the presidential elections after his meeting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai.

Frangieh's visit follows a visit by Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil to Bkerke on Wednesday night.

Frangieh aspires to be a consensual candidate, not a challenging president, and he did not hesitate to announce that he does not object to his election by 65 votes.

Although the two visits took place on close dates, it is sure that there is no connection between them, especially since Frangieh's visit was at the request of the latter, according to information.

Reports of Bkerke's mediation to soften Basil's position regarding Frangieh's candidacy are also untrue.

Free Patriotic Movement sources described to LBCI Rai and Bassil's meetings as positive and good, revealing that an agreement was reached between them on many issues.

Also, regarding the possibility of Bkerke bringing the two men to a meeting, observers told LBCI that nothing would prevent such a thing.

Frangieh had met with the head of the Dignity Movement, Faisal Karami, who considered that the problem is that the parliamentary blocs are divided between a group that supports a challenging candidate, a team that demands dialogue, a group that is holding a sit-in inside the Parliament, and a group that is preoccupied with debates. The solution is to convince all these parties that consensus is the only way to salvation.

In the meantime, while several Change MPs continued their sit-in inside the Parliament, the Strong Republic bloc announced that it had prepared a parliamentary petition to demand Speaker Nabih Berri to hold open sessions to elect a new president.

It also started contacting the rest of the independent blocs and representatives to collect the most significant number of signatures.

All meetings, whether between Christians or other parties, are part of an internal campaign by multiple internal parties to break the stalemate in the presidency without tangible results until now.

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