Deputy Skaff works to unite opposition for common presidential candidate

Deputy Ghassan Skaff is preparing to announce the consensus of opposition components on a comprehensive presidential candidate that does not pose a challenge or confrontation to another team, as confirmed.

This article was originally published in and translated from Lebanese newspaper Nidaa al-Watan.

After completing his first round and gathering three names, known as the "Bkerke List," Skaff is preparing to resume his meetings in Lebanon on Thursday after finishing a political tour that included decision-making officials in Washington and Paris when he joined the opposition deputies' delegation in the French capital.

Despite the challenges and difficulties that hindered the opposition's agreement on a candidate among themselves, Skaff insists that his efforts will lead to the desired outcome, especially after he met with senior officials in the US administration, Congress, and the French Foreign Ministry.

Furthermore, Skaff explained to Nidaa Al-Watan that his tours and meetings with senior officials aim to expedite the conditions for the success of the presidential elections in Lebanon. He then emphasized that achieving this goal requires the parties to present a candidate from each team and go to the Parliament to have the electoral process and its results away from the logic of obstruction and undermining the quorum.

Skaff also linked the outcome of the eleven parliamentary sessions to the absence of serious competition among the candidates, indicating that his initiative aims to secure the conditions for competition between the opposition and resistance candidates, which leaves the door open for hesitant deputies, numbering between 30 and 35, to make their decision during the presidential electoral process. This gives an advantage to one candidate over another, away from side settlements and ongoing obstruction.

Additionally, Skaff considered that responding to his initiative is the sole way to pull the electoral process out of the current stagnation.

He emphasized that open competition between candidates withdraws some people's bet and their threat to return to obstructing the required constitutional quorum to elect the president, allowing, in the end, congratulating the president who obtains 65 votes or more.

Despite the activation of meetings between opposition deputies to study how to block the nomination of Sleiman Frangieh, Skaff pointed out that his proposal or initiative does not aim to target Frangieh or any other presidential candidate.

He noted that it had received the approval and acceptance of the majority of opposition factions, including his colleagues in the opposition parliamentary delegation, who are seeking ways to overcome the presidential deadlock and restore the role of constitutional institutions to perform their supervisory and reformative duties.

Moreover, amid the Progressive Socialist Party's presidential repositioning, Skaff clarified that the Democratic Gathering Bloc would also be a partner in selecting the consensus-moderate candidate for the opposition forces, despite the bloc's differing stances from the opposition, especially regarding supporting Deputy Michel Mouawad.

Skaff reiterated that most opposition blocs would reach a consensus on presenting their candidate among the circulated names by the end of next week. This pushes for urging the Speaker of Parliament to invite deputies to the Parliament and keep the election sessions open until the future president of the republic is elected.