France clarifies stance on Lebanese presidential file: Pushing for speedy election

Following speculations about French support for the candidacy of Sleiman Frangieh, the leader of the Marada Movement, for the Lebanese presidency and the nomination of Nawaf Salam for the prime minister's position, a senior French official has confirmed to AL-Nahar Al-Arabi that France, as officially announced by the French Foreign Ministry, does not select Lebanon's president.

This article was originally published in and translated from Lebanese newspaper Annahar Al Arabi. 

He also said there is no contradiction between this official French position and what the French presidency is doing through the movement of the presidential advisor for Middle Eastern affairs, Patrick Durel, who is responsible for the presidential diplomatic dossier.

Furthermore, he highlighted that this is not in conflict with the American position announced on Wednesday by the US Foreign Ministry that the Lebanese people should choose their president, and it is not for the international community to pick him/ her, a position that is in line with the French one.

The official went on to state that the French proposal that has been circulating, claiming that Paris has chosen Sleiman Frangieh for the Lebanese presidency and Nawaf Salam for the prime minister position, is not true.

He then added that France sees the current situation in Lebanon as critical and that it is extremely important and necessary to expedite the election of a president because the situation cannot wait. 

Additionally, the official clarified that Frangieh's candidacy with a prime minister who will undertake reforms is the sole viable option at the table right now, and Paris is working towards it. At the same time, Durel met with all presidential candidates and Christian party leaders, but there was no agreement on any other candidate.

France has not backed down from its position, according to the official. There is a proposal on the table, but France also says that opponents of the proposal should nominate someone themselves, and so far, they have been unable to do so.

However, that's why France believes that this proposal may speed up the process and open up the electoral game without setting any red lines on any proposed personalities.

On another note, the official affirmed that Durel, contrary to what has been reported in the media, did not try to persuade Saudi Arabia to accept Sleiman Frangieh, which is not valid. However, what he did was ask Saudi Arabia not to put a red line on a specific proposal for electing a president.

In response to a question about whether the proposal of choosing Sleiman Frangieh and Nawaf Salam was a French invention, the official said: "Not at all. On the contrary, the proposal is still on the table, but it is up to the Lebanese to choose."

"France sees that things have been stalled on this front for months, and there have been discussions about several proposals. Some spoke about Sleiman Frangieh, some about Army Commander Joseph Aoun, and some about Jihad Azour," he pointed out.

"They need to agree on a candidate, and there must be a quorum for an election session to take place and elect a candidate," he urged.

The French official also underlined that "the international community should not choose or oppose any candidate, and this is the French position as explained by the presidency to all those who met with Durel, which is consistent with what the French foreign ministry announced."