Preparations for June 14 session: Unifying stances in one direction

Although the focus of the June 14 session was supposed to be the election of a president, the real challenge lies in the ability of the supporters of candidates Jihad Azour and Sleiman Frangieh to boost their scores, which would strengthen their positions in future dialogues or negotiations.

In the lead-up to the session, the opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) concentrated on confronting the challenge and ensuring the continuity of support for Azour's candidacy throughout all stages.

Similarly, the Change MPs, who have yet to decide on their vote, are looking beyond the presidential election session on June 14, with the ultimate goal of electing a president as soon as possible.

On Sunday, six Change MPs, Najat Aoun, Melhem Khalaf, Paula Yacoubian, Firas Hamdan, Yassine Yassine, and Ibrahim Mneimneh, held a meeting, and it can be inferred that they will not vote for Frangieh.

The situation regarding Independent Parliamentary Bloc remains uncertain. The meeting has left the decision on naming a candidate for the second round, should the first round prove capable of delivering a candidate. This is to avoid the meeting, which includes the National Moderation Bloc and Project Watan, represented by its MPs Neemat Frem and Jamil Abboud, as well as MPs Nabil Badr, Imad Hout, and Abdul Rahman Bizri, from being part of any alignments. This is a public statement, but what has not been said explicitly is the concern about dividing the Sunni vote.

The Independent Parliamentary Bloc's stance, as announced by Hout, will be followed by MP Jamil Abboud, affiliated with Project Watan.

As for MP Neemat Frem, who did not attend the Monday meeting, it was said that his absence was due to his Christian specificity. When asked about the possibility of Frangieh breaching the National Moderation Bloc, MP Sagih Atieh emotionally responded, "there are a lot of emotions, but we agreed that our decision would be unified not to vote for a candidate in the first round and agree on a candidate in the second round."

MP Abdul Rahman Bizri will attempt to persuade his colleagues Osama Saad and Charbel Masaad to adopt the stance the Independent Parliamentary Bloc took in Monday's meeting.

Therefore, the goal is to unify the stances in one direction.