Report: Richard Tells Bassil U.S. Relieved that Lebanon Will Get President

W460

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Elizabeth Richard told Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil during their meeting on Tuesday that Washington is “relieved” that Lebanon's lengthy presidential void is nearing an end, a media report said.

“The U.S. ambassador told Bassil that her country is relieved that a president will be elected in Lebanon, noting that Washington's support for Lebanon and the Lebanese army will continue,” LBCI television reported.

State-run National News Agency reported earlier that the talks tackled “the future of the bilateral ties between Lebanon and the U.S. and means to improve them.”

Richard and Bassil also discussed means to “strengthen democracy in the face of challenges,” underlining the need to “bolster stability,” NNA said.

The U.S. State Department had announced Saturday that it hopes to see the presidential election process “moving forward” in Lebanon, noting that the election of a president is a Lebanese affair.

“Who ultimately becomes president of Lebanon is up to the Lebanese people, and we’re going to respect that process,” U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

Aoun was tipped to become president after al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri formally endorsed him on Thursday.

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 had launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Hizbullah's ally and 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.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid have argued 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.

Comments 2
Default-user-icon the_roar (Guest) 26 October 2016, 09:49

I said it before and I will say it now for the sake of those who doubt: Bassil is the real and future president of Lebanon.

Default-user-icon flamethrower (Guest) 26 October 2016, 13:43

Hello @terrorist

Do you know why I was repeatedly banned and humiliated? I trust your unbiased opinion