The head of the Foreign Relations Department in the Lebanese Forces Party said: “There is no veto on the arrival of the army commander, Joseph Aoun, to the presidency of the republic.”
And the former minister, Dr. Richard Kouyoumjian, warned in his interview with “Al-Ain News” that a new president for the country would not be elected “soon,” and attributed this to Hezbollah’s insistence on disrupting the presidential elections.
And the leader of the Forces Party, whose parliamentary bloc (the strong republic) consists of 20 deputies, confirmed that “there are no reliable external initiatives on the horizon, nor names from abroad regarding the presidential file,” until now.
He stressed that Parliament is capable of “Lebanonization of merit,” and what we are waiting for is “awakening the awareness of the internal parties that impede this path,” referring to Hezbollah.
In his interview, the former minister ruled out any meeting or rapprochement between the forces and the “Bassil movement” in the presidential file, saying: “We are facing a disagreement between two strategic visions for Lebanon.
Today, Thursday, the Lebanese Parliament will hold its tenth session to elect a new president for the country, following 9 sessions failed to elect him to succeed Michel Aoun, whose term ended on October 31, amid political uncertainty.
During the previous election sessions, the white paper presided over the appointments of deputies due to disagreements between Hezbollah and its ally, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Representative Gebran Bassil, regarding the support of the first candidate, which was not announced as such. far. The head of the “Marada” movement, Suleiman Franjieh.. The following is the text of the interview:
recurring scenario
* Today, the tenth session will be held in the House of Representatives to elect a new president for the country. Do you expect the scenario of previous sessions to be repeated, or will the session witness new data?
Today’s session will not come with surprises, and the scenario of the failure of the previous sessions to elect a new president for the country will be repeated, and it will be normal unless Speaker Berri postpones it.
The required consensus is still missing a consensus of at least 86 deputies (out of 128 deputies) for a candidate to win in the first round, or 65 deputies for a second-round candidate to win in the same session.
Q: What is your comment on the rumors that the Free Patriotic Movement may vote for a specific candidate in today’s session, and abandon the white paper because of its differences with Hezbollah following it secured the cabinet session?
I do not expect that.. It is likely that the Free Patriotic Movement will vote with white papers, as in the previous rounds.
The head of the movement, Gebran Bassil, continues to play in Hezbollah’s court, and all his high-pitched populist rhetoric will soon die. It escalates when it disagrees with Hezbollah on an issue, and when it does, it quickly softens its tone.
No outside initiatives
* So, is Lebanon waiting for an agreement from abroad to resolve the presidential crisis in light of the parliament’s continued failure to elect a new president?
We do not expect any agreement from the outside, and we do not count on any external interference. What we expect is the awakening of conscience from internal parties that obstruct this path. According to the available information, there are no reliable external initiatives on the horizon.
* Talk has intensified recently regarding the Lebanese circles waiting for an external initiative to solve the crisis following Biden met Macron. What is your comment?
The meeting between the French and American presidents did not touch on the details of the Lebanese situation, but rather big headlines.
There are no initiatives, no settlements, not even names from abroad, and everyone is calling on the Lebanese to take the initiative. We are with the “Lebanonization of the right” so that the conscience of the unemployed is awakened and they go to elections.
* Is Representative Michel Moawad still your candidate for the presidency?
Until further notice, our candidate remains Michel Moawad.
There is no upcoming election for the president
– How long will the presidential vacancy last, in your opinion, in light of fears of its extension and serious repercussions?
No one can predict how long the presidential job will last, as long as Hezbollah continues to insist on obstructing it.
If Hezbollah had a clear candidate to announce his name and engage in the presidential battle with him, it would have been possible to achieve a result, but as long as this behavior continues, there will be no presidential elections anytime soon.
But we hope that following the end of the year there will be new dynamics. Until the unemployed realize they can’t keep bothering them.
Q: Where is Hezbollah from the presidential elections now?
Until further notice, Hezbollah’s candidate is Suleiman Franjieh, and there are attempts to convince Gebran Bassil to support him.
The March 8 team (Hezbollah’s team) has not yet united around a single candidate, which makes it difficult for the party to fight the battle and stop obstruction, so the situation remains, waiting for new problems that may arise following the new year. .
* Will we soon witness a rapprochement between the forces and the Free Patriotic Movement in the presidential file?
No, the movement is at the heart of the axis of resistance, which is loyal to Iran and allied with Hezbollah. They want Lebanon as a stage. The Forces Party has a vision of sovereign reform, and its project is Lebanon as a state. Thus, we are facing a disagreement between two strategic visions for Lebanon.
* Some suggested naming the army commander, Joseph Aoun, as a candidate for the presidency.. Could this be a solution to the current crisis?
We did not object to the army chief. Because he demonstrated his competence and ability to lead the army effectively and successfully, he did his job and was able to save this institution during the period it is going through today from difficulties, especially since it is the only effective institution remaining in the Lebanese state. institutions. who guarantees the security of the country.
Therefore, we say that if there is agreement on the army commander, we will not obstruct his election, but at the same time we prefer that the presidential candidate be a civilian politician.
* You rejected Nabih Berri’s call for dialogue before voting once more on electing the president… Was it not possible for dialogue to be a means of solution?
We are through elections, not dialogue, and everyone supports the principle of dialogue, but there is no constitutional commitment to this dialogue today, nor an important national crisis that calls for dialogue.
Yes, the presidential elections are a major crisis, but they have a solution, which is the democratic electoral path that we followed. Therefore, everyone should go to the elections and stop obstructing that.
We are not a tribal council to discuss some of this and that, but there is an electoral path to follow.
* How do you read Hezbollah’s last call? To put the “defense strategy” and the party’s weapons on the negotiation table under the auspices of the new president following his election?
Previous experiences of dialogue on defense strategy were all failures. Hezbollah announces every day that it wants to keep its weapons, so what is dialogue? Lies and maneuvers are no longer useful.
* What is required of the new president internally and externally?
We want a president who restores the strategic decision of the state, and extends the state’s sovereignty over all its lands with its legitimate military and security forces. We also want from him a neutral foreign policy that restores Lebanon’s relations with its Arab, Gulf and international lands. surroundings, and we want a reformist, not corrupt president.