Lebanon's presidential race intensifies: Paris backs Frangieh, urges his opponents for a candidate

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2023-05-26 | 23:52
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Lebanon's presidential race intensifies: Paris backs Frangieh, urges his opponents for a candidate
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7min
Lebanon's presidential race intensifies: Paris backs Frangieh, urges his opponents for a candidate

In the past two days, internal political consultations related to the presidential file have been active, provided that their picture is completed with the pivotal visit of the Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi to Paris on the second of next June and his meeting with President Emmanuel Macron and his staff in charge of the Lebanon file.   

This article was originally published in, and translated from, the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar. 

The new activity came under intense pressure from some concerned capitals to push the opponents of the candidate Sleiman Frangieh to agree on a competing candidate for him, and return to the consultation circle the name of the former minister, Jihad Azour, who finally returned to Lebanon.  

Sources told al-Akhbar that the past days witnessed renewed contacts between the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the opposition forces, during which "the positions and misunderstandings that led to the suspension of the consultations were finally clarified," and it was agreed to resume them from where they ended, at Azour's name.   

It pointed out that FPM's statement on social media accurately indicates the ceiling reached by the negotiation process and that its reference to "positive dialogue with the opposition blocs" and "agreement on names will soon apply to the approach and program" is completely correct.  

However, it stopped at referring to "agreement on names," in what appears to be "intended not to refer to the existence of one name," pointing out that the head of the Kataeb Party, Samy Gemayel, who is in charge of mediation, has become clearer and more decisive regarding the name of Azour, who appears to be the most accepted of all these forces.  

In this context, the sources indicated that the Lebanese Forces (LF) were informed two days ago that Bassil had decided his position by supporting Azour's candidacy and that the LF, for their part, informed the Kataeb mediator of their willingness to walk with Azour, on the condition that Bassil announces his position first, and that he guarantees the commitment of all members of his parliamentary bloc to support him, and that he withdraws the idea of obtaining the approval of the Amal and Hezbollah duo.  

This development came as a result of conclusions that Bassil returned from his tour in Italy and France, where he met with officials in the two countries and heard from the French presidential advisor Patrick Durrell that Paris still supports the idea of a settlement that carries Frangieh to the Baabda Palace in exchange for Nawaf Salam to the Grand Serail and that the French until this moment do not feel that there is a serious candidate other than Frangieh.  

After Bassil presented his point of view on Frangieh's candidacy and on the issue of quorum and presidential consensus, he confirmed that there are serious talks to reach an understanding on another candidate and that this matter will be verifiable soon.   

On the other hand, he heard a French desire to complete the presidential election soon, and that in the event that it is not possible to agree on another candidate, then Frangieh is the one with the best luck, and his opponents must present their candidate, which allows the parliament to convene, and in a way that guarantees that the election session takes place in isolation from the results.  

Regarding the discrepancy within the Strong Lebanon bloc, sources said that the matter is due to a previous, unresolved discussion about the candidacy of a member of the bloc after Bassil informed the deputies that he was not a candidate.   

A number of deputies, led by Elias Bou Saab, Alain Aoun, and Assaad Dargham, put forward the candidacy of MP Ibrahim Kanaan on behalf of the bloc, given that this would not be a provocation to the Christian team.   

The patriarch had previously given approval for Kanaan's candidacy, and there are indications that the LF did not oppose it, even if they did not support him.   

Likewise, Kanaan, according to the proponents of the proposal, has good relations with the Amal and Hezbollah duo and with others, and his candidacy is not considered provocative to this team.  

While the proponents of this proposition do not seem to support Azour's candidacy for various reasons, Bassil prefers Azour over Kanaan based on the search for a candidate from outside the parliamentary and party blocs and Azour's ability to develop an action program in cooperation with all forces.   

Leaders in the FPM quoted Azour as saying that he does not want confrontation with anyone, but he does not consider his candidacy by many deputies a challenge to anyone.  

As for the position of the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, informed sources indicate the negative climate surrounding him, his "personal" desire not to enter the presidential file in light of the division, and his preference for voting with a blank card over taking part in what is happening.   

Jumblatt told his visitors that he finds no justification for voting for Frangieh, given that Speaker Nabih Berri is betting on the Druze leader's return to the idea of distributing the votes of the Democratic Gathering bloc among the competing candidates.  

On the side of the Change MPs, the division still prevails, as some support the march of Azour, while another party calls for the nomination of a figure who is not associated with an alliance with the LF or the FPM.  

On the other hand, the team supporting Frangieh still considers that "what Bassil is doing is nothing but a maneuver to put pressure on the two and that he is unable to formulate an agreement with the LF due to the lack of trust between them."   

Despite this, if the agreement occurs, the sources say, "Bassil will be the first to lose in it, and he is fully aware of that."   

It revealed, "New contacts are being handled by a senior French figure with the Saudis regarding Frangieh, and the contacts have made great progress," noting that "there is no problem concerning the votes required to elect him because we are in a stage of a Saudi transition from the veto over Frangieh to direct support, which will be translated by asking the deputies whom Riyadh "count on" to vote in his favor."
 

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