Report: Qansou Visited Franjieh after Syrian Dismay over Aoun's Latest Tour
The latest visit by pro-Damascus MP Assem Qansou of the Baath Party to Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh came after Syrian “dismay” over the recent meetings that Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun held in Beirut, a media report said on Saturday.
“The visit reflected signals from the leadership of the Baath Party in the Syrian capital and the dismay of Damascus, and maybe its other allies, over Aoun's latest tour,” the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anbaa reported.
Aoun had visited Speaker Nabih Berri and Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan on the first day of Eid al-Fitr on Wednesday. He also held talks on the same day with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri.
After talks with Franjieh in Bnashii on Thursday, Qansou announced that the Marada leader “is the guarantee.”
“We came here today to emphasize this communication between us and Suleiman Beik and to stress that we share the same policy and support for the resistance,” Qansou said.
There has been speculation that the latest rapprochement between Aoun and Berri could lead to an agreement over the stalled presidential election or the parliamentary polls.
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 electoral sessions at parliament, stripping them of the needed quorum.
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.
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.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/212800 |