Presidential developments: Quintet Committee's patient approach and internal dynamics

On the front of the Quintet Committee's actions, the Saudi ambassador, Walid Al-Bukhari, left for Riyadh to participate in the meetings of the Supreme Committee of the Quintet countries.

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

 

This committee continues to assist Lebanon in overcoming its current political crisis and removing obstacles hindering the presidential elections.

The Saudi Ambassador will brief the members of the Supreme Committee on the positive outcomes of the Quintet countries' ambassadors' meeting with President Nabih Berri and the atmosphere surrounding the current political situation in Lebanon.

Political sources pointed out the difficulties faced by the ambassadors of the Quintet Committee in conducting a joint tour to reactivate the presidential elections file and facilitate the presidential elections as soon as possible.

It was mentioned that more than one ambassador, including the US ambassador, cannot visit the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc or the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gebran Bassil, due to the US sanctions imposed on him.

It is expected that there will be bilateral or individual visits by committee members to other party officials and others to complete the committee's tasks in facilitating the election of a new president for the republic.

The Democratic Gathering bloc sent MP Wael Abou Faour, and the Lebanese Forces party sent MP Melhem Riachy to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

A reliable source revealed that President Berri has not received an invitation to convene a session of the parliament unless there is prior agreement through dialogue. 

This was considered by the leader of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, as a de facto imposition, decreeing the election of the candidate Sleiman Frangieh.

Political sources announced to "Al-Liwaa" that no immediate results are expected regarding the new developments in the presidential file, considering that this movement takes time. Therefore, there is no specific time frame for it.

It is believed that there are political forces responsive to the efforts of the Quintet Committee. However, some prefer to work on internal understanding, distancing themselves from external influence. 

This is notably the position of the Free Patriotic Movement, as evidenced by the brief meeting between MP Gebran Bassil and the French envoy.

The same sources also noted that the recent meeting of the ambassadors of the Quintet Committee did not mention withdrawing nominations or convincing any team to support a specific personality.

They confirmed that expanding the list of candidates or returning to float the third candidate is a point to be discussed in the next stage after knowing the preferences of the parties and the extent of their openness to these options, and all of this will become apparent with time.

Meanwhile, they observed that the reflections of the budget project have begun to appear and are expected to increase, and they did not rule out that the concerned parties' outcry may rise due to the included taxes and fees.