Report: Hizbullah and Iran 'Hold all the Cards' to the Presidency
A solution to Lebanon's presidential impasse is not in the hands of al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri as the latest political activities on the ground are trying to demonstrate, but in the hands of Hizbullah and Iran, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.
An official in the March 14 alliance, said it is unlikely for founder of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun to become president, and affirmed that the “cards are in the hands of Hizbullah and Iran which is keeping it among its stack of cards in Yemen and Iraq in order to improve its negotiations with the new American administration,” the official told the daily.
He added on condition of anonymity: “Everything happening at the time being is merely to hold Hariri responsible for the presidential vacuum.”
Hariri, who returned to the country recently from a foreign trip that lasted several week, kicked off meetings and consultations in order to help solve the deadlock of the presidency.
Media reports said that Hariri has told the members of his parliamentary bloc during a meeting on Tuesday that he might make the “bitter choice” of endorsing Free Patriotic Movement founder Aoun for the presidency as some Mustaqbal MPs described such a step as “suicidal.”
He was quoted as saying that he might be compelled to endorse Aoun for the post because the March 8 camp is blaming him for the vacuum.
An official statement issued after the meeting had said that Hariri “informed the bloc that he has started consultations with all political parties with the aim of speeding up the election of a president.”
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.
Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Mrada Movemnet chief Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties.
The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.
Source: Naharnet
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