Franjieh Calls on Aoun to Attend Presidential Vote, Clings to Own Nomination

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh stressed Tuesday that he will carry on with his presidential nomination, calling on his electoral rival – Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun – to attend the next voting session.

“We thanked the speaker for his support for my nomination,” said Franjieh after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

“I believe that the stronger candidate must not withdraw in favor of the weaker candidate and let the parliament decide,” he added.

“We call on General Aoun and any person who wants to be a candidate to attend the next electoral session and let the best candidate win,” Franjieh urged.

He also stressed that he will not withdraw from the race “even if only one MP” continues to support him.

Franjieh's talks with Berri tackled “the current developments and the presidential file,” state-run National News Agency reported earlier.

Franjieh was accompanied by his son Tony and the lawyer Youssef Finianos.

The meeting was also attended by Berri's advisers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ahmed Baalbaki.

The speaker later threw a lunch banquet in honor of the visitors.

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.

Ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

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.

Hariri has returned recently to Lebanon and launched a series of presidential consultations with the main political parties.

The ex-PM is reportedly exploring the possibility of endorsing Aoun for the presidency in a bid to break the deadlock.