Productive meeting of Bishops: Patience urged amid presidential nomination controversy

Following the discussions held in the Vatican and Paris regarding the necessity of dialogue in the presidential file, Bishop Paul Abdel Sater met with Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday.

Subsequently, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi's envoys, Bishop Abdel Sater and Bishop Maroun Ammar, visited Ain el-Tineh after meeting with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt on Thursday. This visit was a response to the tension expressed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri towards the Maronite Patriarchate. Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab acted as a mediator in this matter.

The meeting was productive and lasted for thirty-five minutes. The Bishops chose not to make any statements, leaving the matter to be addressed by the Patriarchate.

Meanwhile, it has been learned that Berri affirmed his commitment to nominate Sleiman Frangieh, the leader of the Marada Movement.

Sources close to Ain el-Tineh urged patience on the session's results and cautioned against relying on the rumors suggesting a clear advantage for candidate Jihad Azour. They emphasized the importance of waiting for the numbers that Frangieh would receive.

As the number of undecided parliamentarians for the Wednesday session decreases, there are ongoing communications among the MPs who still need to determine their stances ranging between twenty and twenty-five.

However, the available data indicate two tendencies among the undecided MPs. The first suggests leaning towards a third option, either Neemat Frem or Ziad Baroud. The second proposes writing a specific slogan to create distance from the current alignment and avoid casting a blank vote.

In addition, there are efforts to attract two or more Change MPs to vote for Jihad Azour, but the results have not appeared yet. It is worth noting that six Change MPs are coordinating to adopt a unified stance.

According to Lebanese Forces Party leader Samir Geagea, those who desire effective elections must choose between the presented candidates; otherwise, they are essentially voting to maintain the presidential vacuum.

Geagea considered any attempt to evade responsibility in order to pave the way for another name with no chance of reaching Baabda Palace completely inappropriate.