The choice of voting for Jihad Azour in the presidential elections is “certain and natural,” the Free Patriotic Movement said.

Voting for Azour is aimed at “stressing rejection of the election of the imposed candidate from whom no reform or change of the establishment controlling the country can be hoped,” the FPM’s political council said in a statement.

Former president and Free Patriotic Movement founder Michel Aoun held a meeting Tuesday in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

MP Hassan Fadlallah of Hezbollah on Tuesday said that Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for a presidential election session refutes the rival camp’s claims that “there won’t be a session because we don’t guarantee the success of our candidate.”

“We have a host of constitutional choices and we are discussing these choices with our allies and friends to take the appropriate stance in the coming session,” Fadlallah added.

Parliament will convene next week to elect a president, amid high tensions between supporters of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh and former minister Jihad Azour.

The opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement said they have agreed on voting for Azour but media reports said Tuesday that at least six FPM MPs will not vote for Azour, even after FPM chief Jebran Bassil met with them and tried to convinced them of voting for the former minister of finance.

The Higher Judicial Council has appointed Judge Habib Rizkallah to look into the judicial standoff between State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat and Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar.

Bitar had on February 6 postponed questioning of officials over the dispute with Oueidat.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon and the Samir Kassir Foundation have announced the results of the 18th edition of the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press, in a ceremony held at the Sursock Palace Gardens, in Beirut.

This Award, established and funded by the European Union, is widely recognized internationally as a flagship prize for press freedom and the most prestigious journalism award in the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf region. Since 2006, the Award ceremony has been held annually to commemorate the anniversary of Lebanese journalist Samir Kassir’s assassination, on 2 June 2005 in Beirut, and celebrate his life, his values, and his memory.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has started to talk to all parties regarding the presidential file.

On Saturday, bishop Paul Abdel Sater, on behalf of al-Rahi, met with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The bishop urged for consensus instead of confrontation, and Nasrallah reiterated his support for Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh, al-Akhbar newspaper said Monday.

MP Hadi Abou al-Hosn of the Progressive Socialist Party noted that the agreement between the opposition and the Free Patriotic Movement over Jihad Azour’s nomination is “positive” although it came “late.”

“Ex-MP Walid Jumblat had proposed ex-minister Jihad Azour as one of three presidential candidates five months ago, without finding sufficient dynamism from some parties to endorse this nomination,” Abou al-Hosn said in a radio interview.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday called for a June 14 presidential election session, a day after the opposition officially endorsed ex-minister Jihad Azour as its presidential candidate.

It will be the 12th time that parliament tries to elect a new president after 11 fruitless sessions, the last of which was held on January 19.

Opposition lawmakers on Sunday nominated Jihad Azour, an International Monetary Fund regional director and former minister, for president.

MP Mark Daou of the Change bloc read a statement on behalf of 32 opposition legislators, endorsing Azour after weeks of negotiations "as a candidate that is not considered provocative by any political factor in the country." The lawmakers belong to the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and the Tajaddod bloc in addition to several independent and Change MPs.