After France promoted the equation of Sleiman Frangieh for the presidency in exchange for Nawaf Salam for the premiership for weeks, the official French Foreign Ministry statement came, indicating that they do not have any candidate for the presidency in Lebanon and that "it is up to the Lebanese people to choose their leaders," suggesting a change in Paris' stance towards the presidential file.
Samy Gemayel, the leader of the Kataeb Party, who is currently in Paris, informed French officials whom he met over the past two days that the proposal of Sleiman Frangieh is unacceptable to a part of the Lebanese people who cannot hand over the country to Hezbollah for six years.
He noted that Paris's goal is to find solutions, not to impose any candidate, and expressed hope in an interview with LBCI that the French would retract this proposal and move towards something constructive.
So far, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, has not received any invitation to visit Paris.
However, there is ongoing communication with the French Ambassador to Beirut, Anne Grillo, and there is no objection on him, but the mechanism for forming the authority is a Lebanese sovereignty issue that must be discussed within the country, according to sources from the Free Patriotic Movement.
"The international community can support the authority that is formed by the people internally," the sources added.
"Until today, we have not received any invitation," this is how sources from the Lebanese Forces respond to the question of whether there is an invitation for their leader, Samir Geagea, to visit Paris.
The same sources indicate that the LF's position is well-known in French decision-making circles, and the French Ambassador is fully aware of it.
"I adhere to my position in the presidential file that says no to any confrontational candidate," says the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, to L'Orient Le Jour.
He adds, "Sleiman Frangieh and his team have reasons to believe that he has better chances, and France continues to support him for reasons I am trying to understand."