Jumblatt still adamant on his presidential initiative

3^min

Leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, appears to be continuing the consultations with all parties to take the Lebanese presidential entitlement subject forward after reviving it two weeks ago.

Jumblatt has started looking for a new president in the meetings he and those sent on his behalf hold. He has three names in mind:

Jihad Azour

Salah Honein

Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Joseph Aoun, keeping in mind that Jumblatt is open to any other name.

Jumblatt proposed these names to everyone he has seen, beginning with Hezbollah, which has refused to abandon its support for Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh as a candidate for the presidency.

To generate an initial consensus on any figure other than the duality of Michel Moawad and Sleiman Frangieh, with priority for one of the three choices provided, Jumblatt continues with this presidential initiative and presents it to the other parties in both announced and unannounced meetings.

Jumblatt's initiative, which is a presidential initiative par excellence, has also no direct connection to the upcoming Paris meeting because he is aware that this meeting won't resolve the Lebanese presidential crisis. Still, it will undoubtedly consider the positions of the Lebanese parties, particularly those revolving around the countries taking part in the Paris meeting.

Meanwhile, a Democratic Gathering delegation visited Bkerke. It included Taymour Jumblatt, Wael Abou Faour, and Raji al-Saad and had a meeting where the presidential election was the main topic of discussion.

Moreover, Jumblatt's presidential initiative and movement landed in the afternoon in Ain al-Tineh, where Jumblatt and Speaker Nabih Berri discussed the results of the individual consultations they had undertaken.

Given the vertical divide in opinions, finding the next president of the republic is not an easy task. Will Jumblatt give in, or will he successfully persuade the other parties—including Hezbollah—with one of the three names, or is all of this activity pointless?

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