LF and Marada reconciliation has nothing to do with the presidency

The meeting that brought together MPs Melhem Al-Riachyi of the Lebanese Forces and and Tony Franjieh of the Marada movement was not the first, and it will not be the last, Lebanese media reported following their last and highly publicized meeting

Sources close to both parties confirmed that , “The Riachy-Franjieh meeting has nothing to do with the presidential file, as long as the positions of the two parties are known regarding this issue .”

Tony Franjieh is the son of Suleiman Franjieh, an ally of Syrian president Basar al- Assad , and the presidential candidate of Hezbollah and its allies, while Riachy is a top Lebanese Forces official who is closely associated with its leader Samir Geagea.

Geagea along all the key Christian parties opposed the election of Franjieh but the reconciliation talks are reportedly aimed as telling Franjieh that the opposition has nothing personal against him .

There is concern within the opposition that Franjieh will be used as another rubber stamp for Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah , like former president Michel Aoun before him. Aoun’s term expired on October 31, 2022

The heavily armed Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group considers itself a resistance movement but has reportedly been using its arms internally to intimidate the Lebanese people and refuses to hand over its arms to the Lebanese army like all the other militias did after the civil war ended in 1989