Hollande Tells Salam Paris in Contact with All Parties over Presidential Vote

French President Francois Hollande told Prime Minister Tammam Salam during a New York meeting on Tuesday that Paris will maintain its contacts with all parties to press for the election of a president in Lebanon, media reports said.

“Salam told Hollande that he is counting on France's support for Lebanon in resolving its crises,” Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said.

Hollande for his part told Salam that he is following up on the developments in Lebanon, especially the Syrian refugee crisis and its impact on the Lebanese situations, the radio network added.

The French president also noted that he will raise the issue of Lebanon's presidential vacuum during all of his upcoming meetings in New York, “especially with the Saudi and Iranian delegations,” Voice of Lebanon said.

Hollande also revealed that France is preparing for a Paris meeting for the International Support Group for Lebanon that will be held in November in order to “take the necessary measures to help Lebanon at all levels.”

LBCI television meanwhile said the French president reassured Salam that France will continue to support Lebanon at all levels, “especially in terms of assisting the army and helping Lebanon cope with the heavy presence of Syrian refugees.”

“Hollande stressed to Salam the need to continue the work of state institutions – the parliament and the cabinet – and the importance of electing a president, emphasizing that France will maintain its contacts with all parties to press for the election of a president and for resolving the institutional paralysis crisis,” the TV network added.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel 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.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP 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 initiative followed a Paris meeting with Franjieh.

The ex-PM'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 the 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.