Report: Franjieh is Ready to Withdraw from Presidential Race
Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh will reportedly withdraw his candidacy for the presidential post in favor of founder of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun, As Safir daily said on Saturday.
Franjieh told French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault that he is ready to move back from his nomination for the head of state in favor of Aoun if Lebanon's interest requires that, according to the daily.
Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate the Marada chief for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.
Head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, Aoun, has become optimistic now that the chances increased for his arrival at the presidential post, added the daily.
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.
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.
Source: Naharnet
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