Naharnet

Report: Serious Talk on Electing Aoun for a Two-Year Term

A suggestion to elect the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun as president could be underway, garnering the blessing of two political parties, the Saudi Okaz daily reported on Sunday.

“There is a serious proposal to elect MP Michel Aoun as head of the Lebanese state for a two-year period,” well-informed sources told the daily.

“The proposal is a serious one and it has the approval of two political parties where one of them has guaranteed to market the idea to Hizbullah,” they said on condition of anonymity.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps have thwarted the elections.

Hizbullah announced earlier this year that it would boycott electoral sessions unless it receives guarantees that its candidate, Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun, is elected head of state.

Marada movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh is also a candidate. He rose to the forefront of the presidential polls late last year when he was backed by al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri.

The Marada chief and Aoun, who are former allies, are the main contenders for the presidential post which has been left vacant since May 2014.

Source: Naharnet


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