Naharnet

Conflicting reports emerge on Franjieh's Paris visit

Conflicting reports emerged Saturday over Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh’s visit to the French capital Paris and his meeting there with Patrick Durel -- the French president’s advisor for North Africa and the Middle East.

“Paris will tell Franjieh of the need to withdraw from the race to the presidential palace in order to facilitate the electoral process, seeing as the election of a partisan president is almost impossible,” Annahar newspaper quoted unnamed sources as saying.

“Hezbollah has been put in the picture of the visit and it backs the French (withdrawal) scenario in order to avoid embarrassment,” the sources added.

Progressive Socialist Party sources meanwhile told Annahar that PSP chief Walid Jumblat’s foreign tour, especially his visit to Paris, was aimed at explaining “the difficulty of Franjieh’s election as president, seeing as he is loyal to a camp.”

“Jumblat urged the French to seek consensus over another, centrist figure with a financial-economic profile, but the French did not inform him of any decisive stance in this regard,” the PSP sources added.

The Nidaa al-Watan newspaper for its part reported that Franjieh was informed by Paris that the bargain deal calling for his election in return for the appointment of Nawaf Salam as premier has been rejected by the recent Paris meeting parties -- the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt.

Informed sources meanwhile told the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Paris has invited Franjieh to France to agree with him over “the public pledges that he can offer over key issues, such as how to deal with the premier, the Syrian refugees, border control, the political-economic-financial reform agenda, and the pledges he can obtain from Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the issues of refugees and border demarcation.”

“Paris also wants to know the nature of the relation that will be in place between him and Hezbollah and the extent of his openness toward the Arab world, in particular the Gulf,” the sources added.

Al-Akhbar daily meanwhile quoted diplomatic sources as saying that “the French stance is still the same” and that “Paris is acting on the basis that there is time left to continue the discussions with the Saudis over the next weeks and to eventually convince the kingdom of endorsing the settlement.”

And quoting Hezbollah and Amal Movement sources, al-Joumhouria newspaper said “the French want to speed up the election of a president,” adding that “it is not ruled out that Lebanon might have a new president right before or just after the (Easter and Fitr) holidays.”


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