Extended leave for presidential elections continues with mutual vetoes as the main obstacle. The candidate's name is no longer important compared to the strength of the veto that prevents his accession by either of the two blocs. Thus, the only reason to call for a parliamentary session is to devote the elected and not his election.
With its sarcasm and disappointment, the familiar phrase heard in Ain el-Tineh recently is "congratulations on a long-lasting safety." After Jarir said it in commemorating Farazdaq in the 7th century, the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, referred to it as a direct expression of an ongoing crisis in the presidential election.
The result of this disappointment is that there is no twelfth session at the end of April, after the holidays. Berri points out in the ongoing debate about the presidential elections that the concerned parties need to present the right outcome leading to the president's election.
Berri has three views on the current situation:
1- The Parliament will hold a legislative session on which the date will be determined the following Monday. This session is crucial, and its agenda must be approved, even if the blocs boycott it. All the session needs are an absolute majority quorum (65 MPs). Thus, a session is expected to take place with those who attend. This is also a direct response from Berri to the announcement of the two major Christian blocs, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the Lebanese Forces - and to the small Christian blocs - regarding the boycott of any session not held to elect the president.
2- Contrary to what was rumored about the French-Saudi bilateral meeting in Paris last weekend, where the contradiction between the two parties thwarted any possible positive results, Berri only says they "did not understand each other," without casting a pessimistic shadow on the efforts made. The French Ambassador, Anne Grillo, requested to meet him next Friday in the context of ongoing contacts between him and France to find a way out of the presidential impasse. Although he remains silent about what is happening between him and France and some high-level contacts, none of the information suggests a favorable chance of agreeing on a new president.
3- When asked about who has the power to break the stalemate that is gripping the presidential elections, the head of parliament says that he is currently looking forward to what Bkerke issues, in a hint to its recent initiative to find a way out of the presidential vacancy, in light of what has been rumored that it has prepared a list of candidates which the Christian parties hope to agree on one or more of them. Berri attaches importance to that initiative on the "Day of Prayer," which Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi called for on April 5, in which Christian MPs will participate.
However, Berri said that "the patriarch had previously gathered the four Maronite leaders (Amin Gemayel, Michel Aoun, Sleiman Frangieh, and Samir Geagea) on March 28, 2015, and they agreed among themselves in his presence that one of them should be president since they were the four most representative figures in their community. The four of them accepted each other. They committed to approving the election of one of them, whom the others would support, and no one would stand as an obstacle in the way of electing the agreed-upon candidate. In the end, one of them, President Aoun, was elected, although Frangieh was considered a possible candidate before him."
"The following year (2016), the presidential elections were concluded by choosing a president from among the four leaders. They were both the problem and the solution. The presence of Bkerke among them provided evidence that one of the main reasons for the disagreement over the presidential elections lies with them. This is what is happening today, and Bkerke is playing the same role," he stressed.
He continued, "yesterday, and we said that the problem was Maronite, and they were upset with us. If we say it today, they will also be upset. However, this is the first dilemma."
When the speaker compares the scene in 2015 to today, he confirms again that the same chronic problem persists among the Maronite leaders.
Unless they openly declared in front of the patriarch by lifting their vetoes against each other, it has become their only weapon to obstruct the elections today. There is nothing between the current factions except mutual rejection and vetoes.