Report: Aoun May Meet Hariri on Tuesday to Address Presidential Elections

Head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun may travel to the French capital Paris on Tuesday to meet chief of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

An informed political source told the daily that the two officials will tackle all pending issues, especially the presidential elections.

Other sources said that the “dialogue between the Mustaqbal Movement and FPM will resume openly soon.”

The resumption of the talks between the two sides will not necessarily mean that the Mustaqbal Movement will endorse Aoun's nomination for the presidency, added the sources.

Aoun is scheduled to appear in a television interview on OTV on Monday night.

The sources interpreted the lawmaker's rescheduling of the interview from Tuesday to Monday may mean that he is traveling to Paris to meet Hariri.

Aoun has announced that he would only run for president if he was presented as a consensual nominee, particularly eying the support of the Mustaqbal Movement.

Mustaqbal bloc's MPs, however, are holding onto the March 14 alliance's candidate Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.

Lebanon has so far held six presidential elections sessions, but lawmakers have failed to elect a new head of state due to the ongoing dispute between the rival March 8 and 14 alliances.

President Michel Suleiman's term ended on May 25.

The next elections session is scheduled for June 18.

M.T.