At the beginning of the last week of May, new prospects opened up in the presidential election, completely contradicting the dictates and continuous exaggeration of Hezbollah.
The meeting between Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai and French President Emmanuel Macron today will be an opportunity to articulate the demands of the Christians in Lebanon regarding the national election.
In parallel, the visit of Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari to Army Commander General Joseph Aoun carries special significance as it marks the first meeting of the Kingdom's ambassador after his absence from Lebanon since the Arab summit on the 19th of this month in Jeddah.
Similarly, a similar visit was made by the Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon, Yasser Alawi, to the army commander, noting that Saudi Arabia and Egypt are members of the five-party committee in Lebanon, which also includes the United States, France, and Qatar.
Sources told "Nidaa al-Watan" that Patriarch Rai carries with him today to his meeting with President Macron at the Elysee Palace a document that includes the names of five presidential candidates representing the Christian choices.
These candidates are Ibrahim Kanaan, Ziad Baroud, Joseph Aoun, Jihad Azour, and Neemat Efrem.
The Patriarch's list, which does not include the name of the Shiite duo's candidate, Sleiman Frangieh, aims to respond to the French position, which has supported the Shiite duo's choice of Frangieh, under the pretext that there is no Christian candidate other than him.
This pushed Elysee to endorse him to avoid a vacuum in the presidential position in Lebanon, in addition to the fact that the future president should come within the framework of consensus with the Shiite component.
Before his departure to Paris yesterday evening, the Patriarch met with the Secretary of State of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, at the request of the Holy See.
Information indicates that the Vatican facilitated the Patriarch's visit to Paris through contacts made by the Vatican officials with French officials to emphasize the importance of respecting the democratic battle that the Lebanese Parliament may witness if the opposition, along with the Free Patriotic Movement, adopts the nomination of former Minister Jihad Azour.
Observers understood from these contacts that the Vatican stands with the Christian forces in their rejection of an unacceptable imposition of a nomination.
In Lebanon, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, told the Kuwaiti newspaper "al-Qabas" in an interview published today that he agrees with the opposition on a candidate's name, but the program is lacking.
He called on Hezbollah to seek national consensus and abandon the approach of imposition and confrontation.
Bassil is preparing to officially announce the Free Patriotic Movement's approval of Azour's nomination in the coming hours, within the context of consecutive positions from the opposition, as each faction declares its support for Azour's nomination.
During their last meeting, Bassil's position was expedited by the recent controversy between him and Deputy Alain Aoun, a member of the party's political bureau. Bassil considered it an intervention by Hezbollah in the "backyard of the movement."
Therefore, he had to choose Azour as an option to send a message to the party, affirming that he still had control over the decision-making within the movement.
A diplomatic source, speaking through "Nidaa al-Watan," called for a "good understanding of the Arab and Western movement in Lebanon, with a focus on the Vatican's attention to the Army Commander through important meetings he held with senior Vatican officials during his recent visit to Rome.
Through its silent movement, the perceived impression was that the Vatican is emphasizing a figure outside the factions, which aligns with both the Arab and international groups in this regard.
The source pointed out that this movement does not mean that the presidency is imminent, but instead, it requires further consideration, which may extend until the end of the current summer.