Presidential file: Bkerke presents list of names to Christian leaders

Sources informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Abu Najm presented a list of names to the head of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, and the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, whom he met over the weekend.

However, the Maronite Patriarchate supports this list and was presented so that they both choose one or two names from it.

The list will also be presented to the head of the Marada Movement, Sleiman Frangieh, and the head of Kataeb party, Sami Gemayel, in the coming hours.

Through this move, the Maronite Patriarchate seeks to determine names that represent a cross-section of the different political forces, one of which can be adopted as the most likely presidential candidate.

Sources also mentioned that "after the end of the second round and evaluating its results, the Patriarch will decide the next step, whether it will be a meeting of the leaders at the Patriarchate's headquarters to announce any achieved agreement."

However, the Maronite Patriarch began his efforts at the beginning of February, after being commissioned by the heads of the Christian sects who met in Bkerke. They called on Christian MPs to meet and urged them to work together with Muslim MPs as soon as possible to elect a president.

Different political forces did not respond to the proposal put forward by the 64 Christian MPs at the headquarters of the patriarchate. Additionally, the idea of gathering leaders in Bkerke was also rejected in order to avoid repeating the 2014 experience, when it was agreed that the President of the Republic would be one of the four Christian leaders (Aoun, Geagea, Frangieh, and former President Amin Gemayel). However, Geagea primarily opposed this proposal, while Bassil pushed towards it.

Strong Lebanon bloc MP Asaad Dergham confirmed that "the issue today is not about each party presenting names of candidates, but rather the movement of Bishop Abu Najm falls within the framework of seeking an agreement on a roadmap to save the country through dialogue."

He then stressed to Asharq Al-Awsat that "we will participate in any meeting called for by the Patriarch, considering ourselves advocates of dialogue.”

For their part, LF sources considered the movement of Bishop Abu Najm as "good and blessed" in the context of developing ideas to reach a breakthrough in the presidential crisis.

They also stated that they informed the concerned forces of clear positions stating that "we refuse any Christian quadrilateral meeting because we are in a national crisis, not a Christian one.” They added “we link any parliamentary meeting for the 64 Christian MPs to a mechanism that leads to a public outcome adopting one candidate.”

“We also reject any president from March 8 coalition and any president who lacks stance because what is required is to fill the void with a capable president who can save the country, not any president,” the sources highlighted.

Furthermore, the same sources explained that “if the Church insists on calling for a meeting, the Strong Republic bloc led by Geagea must decide whether to participate and present its justifications or boycott it with its reasons.”

However, the Presidential file takes a new turn as Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced that Frangieh is the candidate of Hezbollah-Amal duo, rejecting the nomination of Lebanese Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun, stating that it requires a constitutional amendment that he deems "unavailable."

Informed sources say that "the patriarch is keen to keep the presidential portfolio in the Christian arena, but at the same time, he will not risk calling for a meeting at the patriarchate if he is not sure in advance that it will be productive," considering that "the country cannot tolerate further failures, and what is required is to get out of this as soon as possible by rushing to elect a president who puts the country on the path of rescue."