Mashnouq Criticizes Call for 'Package Deal', Urges against 'Imposing' Candidates

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq on Friday criticized Speaker Nabih Berri's insistence on a package deal that precedes the election of a new president, while stressing that candidates must not be “imposed” on anyone.

“Ex-PM Saad Hariri is visiting one group after another and one movement after another to discuss the available choices with everyone, seeing as the country is reeling from negative economic and financial situations and our situations are worse than we thought in all state institutions,” Mashnouq, a member of Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement, said.

“We call on all political forces to observe calm in their rhetoric and consultations... and no one should try to impose a certain candidate on anyone,” the minister added.

“We must not stop talking to each other if we disagree on something and if we reach an agreement, we must not try to impose it on anyone,” Mashnouq went on to say.

Commenting on Berri's call for a package deal, the minister added: “The Constitution stipulates that after the election of a president a prime minister would be designated to form a government by a majority of MPs, so where is the wisdom in discussing the line-up of the government before electing a president?”

“I don't understand what does the electoral law have to do with the formation of the government. It is the right of all political forces to discuss the electoral law all year long,” Mashnouq went on to say.

“There is a comparison between the current days and the days during which we went to Doha to forge a political agreement. How are they related? We went to Doha as a result of a condemned military operation (by Hizbullah and its allies) and May 7 (2008) was a black day in our history and memory, so why are they trying to awaken the demons today?” the minister asked.

“Why are they saying that nowadays we are going through a period that is similar to the one that preceded the Doha Accord and that we must discuss the government line-up, the electoral law and other topics before electing a president?” Mashnouq added, stressing that Mustaqbal “will not be part of any constitutional step before the election of a president.”

He also underlined that national dialogue must be “open-ended” instead of being “preconditioned.”

According to media reports, Berri has insisted in recent days that no president will be elected without an agreement on so-called package deal involving agreements on key issues such as the presidency, the government and the electoral law.

But MTV reported Thursday that Berri is willing to accept “half a package deal” involving “an agreement on the electoral law, the finance minister post, creating an oil ministry and retaking the energy ministry portfolio.”

Hariri's return to Lebanon on Saturday has triggered a flurry of rumors and media reports about a possible presidential settlement and the possibility that the ex-PM has finally decided to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency in a bid to break the deadlock.

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 parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

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.

Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties.

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.