Representative Ali Hassan Khalil explained, “Gebran Bassil is the one who requested that the meeting with President Nabih Berri be away from the media, and we did not leak any information regarding the meeting.”
Ali Hassan Khalil said, in an interview with Al-Jadeed: “Bassil’s notification to Hezbollah of the meeting with President Nabih Berri is a natural matter among the allies.”
He added, “It is true that Gebran Bassil’s position is sharp regarding Suleiman Franjieh’s candidacy for the presidency, but it has not stopped yet.”
He continued, “The Amal Movement and Hezbollah have not yet announced the candidacy of Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency, and the strongest candidate today is the white paper because it opens the way to understanding.”
He pointed out that “Suleiman Franjieh is not in opposition to Michel Moawad, because he did not present his name as a challenging candidate, and he does not want to be a presidential candidate, but he wants to be president of the republic.”
And he added, “Nothing is impossible in Lebanon, and there is an impossibility for Michel Moawad to reach the presidency, and there is a ‘Plan B’ for his supporters.”
He revealed that, “No names other than Suleiman Franjieh were presented in the meeting between President Nabih Berri and Gebran Bassil, and we did not receive specific names from Patriarch Al-Rahi.”
Ali Hassan Khalil said: “There is no ‘veto’ on one of the presidential candidates.”
He added, “We will skip the New Year and start the next year with the presidential vacuum, and all indications indicate a lack of understanding so far.”
He pointed out that “it is shameful to link the file of the presidency with the end of Riad Salameh’s mandate,” adding, “The position of the presidency of the republic is more important than the position of the governor of the Banque du Liban.”
He explained, “The will of Speaker Nabih Berri is to ‘Lebanonize’ the file of electing the President of the Republic, and perhaps today we need movement and external support.”
