After months of tensions and (verbal) confrontations, the two parties met in the first days of the year. Political leader Ibrahim Amine el-Sayed headed the Shiite party delegation. The central theme of the talks was the future head of state and the need to resume dialogue. There is no veto -by word- of either party on names and candidates; the possibility of an international conference took a backseat.
Beirut () – A step towards an agreement on the election of the future president of the Republic, after months of stagnation and political and institutional blockade, which have had serious repercussions on the country, the economy and society. On January 2, the Maronite Patriarch Cardinal. Beshara Raï met with a high-level delegation from Hezbollah, led by the head of the political council of the Shiite party Ibrahim Amine el-Sayed (pictured).
The conciliatory tone and the full willingness to strengthen contacts at this crucial moment in the life of the nation could be the summary of the climate that characterized the meeting. According to sources close to both parties, the two main issues around which the meeting took place and were touched on repeatedly were the election of the head of state and the need to resume dialogue between the two fronts.
Patriarch Raï and Hezbollah have agreed to consider the end of the presidential mandate as the obligatory step towards a total exit from the crisis. Regarding this point, the cardinal reiterated to his visitors that Bkerké does not place any veto on the candidate, nor on the leader of the Maradas, Sleiman Frangié, declared candidate and supported by Hezbollah, nor on the army commander Joseph Aoun, nor on no other figure proposed..
In return, Hezbollah promised the Maronite patriarch not to proceed with the presidential election without the approval or support of the Christian parties, and first of all the Maronite patriarchal headquarters. Knowing very well, moreover, that at this moment the headquarters does not support any of the two great parliamentary alignments that represent Christians: the Free Patriotic Movement (MPL) and the Lebanese Forces.
According to a source from the Hezbollah delegation reproduced by Scarlett Haddad of L’Orient-Le Jour, “this party will not accept any scenario that could make Christians feel excluded from the presidential election process” and that concerns “first of all their community”.
At the same time, Patriarch Raï also called on Hezbollah to no longer be satisfied with placing a blank ballot at the polls, because in a democratic system such as Lebanon should be, one should vote for a name. So that the candidate who obtains the highest number of votes can be elected. Hezbollah, according to the source cited above, responded that “its preference is that there be a preliminary agreement between the different parties, before proceeding to the vote” on any candidate.
Despite the differences, the Shiite party has welcomed the patriarch’s position, as it has ensured that the Maronite patriarchal headquarters will not veto the election of Sleiman Frangié. In return, the cardinal received guarantees that the pro-Iranian party will not veto the candidacy of army chief General Joseph Aoun.
The presidential chair has been vacant since October 31. In all this time, 10 parliamentary sessions have been held to choose the successor, but none of them have managed to choose the new head of state who should take Michel Aoun’s place, considering that the candidate must obtain 85 votes in the first round and at minus 65 in the second. But none of the candidates that have been presented so far have managed to gather the number of votes and the quorum necessary to proceed to the election.
Regarding the campaign of the Maronite patriarch in favor of the organization of an international congress, it seems that the question has not been the subject of discussion, at least at an explicit level. However, the Hezbollah delegation was of the opinion that “the fate of Lebanon should not depend on regional and international developments,” because then the solution would risk “taking too much time.” Among other things because “for the moment there are no indications that a party, regional or international, is clearly in favor of a conference of this type.”
