Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt told Speaker Nabih Berri that he will not endorse Suleiman Franjieh, sources of the pro Hezbollah daily al-Akhbar, reported
The sources said that Jumblatt cannot endorse a settlement without the approval of at least one of the two largest Christian blocs, namely the Lebanese Forces , the Free Patriotic Movement and and the Phalange Party in order to maintain the Christian-Druze ties in Mount Lebanon.
France also gives up on Franjieh
This development comes after France which has been pushing for a settlement that called for the election of Franjieh as president and Nawaf Salam as PM decided to drop the idea
“Paris has reached a conclusion that its plan does not enjoy the circumstances of success,” sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.
“A meeting for the five-party group (France, U.S., KSA, Egypt and Qatar) had been scheduled for the current month, but the differences within the group led to postponing it to next month without specifying an exact date,” the daily added.
Franjieh , who is the weakest Christian leader has so far failed to win the support of any of the country’s leading Christian parties – the Lebanese Forces , the Free Patriotic Movement and and the Phalange Party .
Jumblatt’s position could spell the end of Franjieh’s presidential hopes .
Breakthrough ?
While all this development has been taking place there are reports of a possible breakthrough within the opposition ranks
According to media reports the opposition is close to announcing the name of a consensus presidential candidate .
The Baabda Palace has been empty since Michel Aoun left it and moved his home in Rabieh at the end of October . He was proclaimed Lebanon’s worst ever president.
So acrimonious is the divide in the 128-seat parliament that speaker Nabih Berri has stopped even scheduling sessions to elect a new president since the 11th attempt failed in January. Thus far, no party or coalition has come anywhere near to breaching the threshold required in the legislature, where no group holds a majority.
So the question is, when will the once-regular electoral sessions resume?
Berri, the long-serving speaker who is also leader of the Amal Movement, insists MPs are not taking the election seriously and that he is waiting for serious candidates to declare their candidacy before reopening parliament’s doors.
Two months ago the Amal Movement and its Iran backed Hezbollah militant group , officially declared their support for Suleiman Frangieh, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad , and considered a puppet of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah like Aoun before him
Berri’s failure to summon the MPs has been strongly criticised by some.
Berri was accused of delaying the reconvening parliament to use the time to boost Franjieh’s chances.
Berri was quoted as saying he has “no Plan B, only a Plan A”the candidacy Frangieh, the Marada chief
In Lebanon’s confessional political system, the office of president is reserved for a Maronite Christian, parliamentary speaker for a Shiite Muslim and prime minister for a Sunni Muslim.
In the first round of voting, a two-thirds majority — or 86 seats ― is required for a president to be anointed. An absolute majority is needed in subsequent ballots in the same session
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