Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Sunday stood firm on his support for MP Sleiman Frangieh’s nomination for the presidency, overriding opposition from both the March 8 and March 14 camps to the Marada Movement leader’s presidential bid.
Hariri spoke with Frangieh by telephone “to exchange views on latest developments of the political situation and ongoing contacts” to end the 19-month-long presidential vacuum, according to a statement released by Hariri’s media office.
The conversation ended with the two leaders stressing that they would “continue consultations and proceed with the joint path to elect a president,” the statement said.
Sunday’s was the second phone contact between the two leaders since Frangieh emerged as a strong presidential candidate following his meeting with the former prime minister in Paris last month.
The phone call with Frangieh came a day after Hariri spoke by phone for about an hour with Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, who staunchly opposes the Marada Movement leader’s presidential bid, to discuss the deadlock.
Hariri’s support for the nomination of Frangieh, a leading figure in the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, has put a strain on the Future Movement’s ties with the LF, a key pillar of the March 14 coalition.
MTV, a pro-March 14 TV station, said in its prime-time news bulletin Sunday night that the Hariri-Geagea phone conversation did not make any breakthrough over the presidential election crisis, as the head of the Future Movement stuck to his support for Frangieh’s nomination, while the LF chief refused to budge on his rejection of this nomination.
Melhem Riachi, the LF media officer, described the Hariri-Geagea phone conversation as “as very cordial.”“The two discussed the presidential issue and details of Hariri’s step [Frangieh’s nomination] and its motives,” Riachi told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
“The Hariri-Geagea contact was scientific and very clear. Everyone knows Dr. Geagea’s modesty,” he said, adding that a meeting between Hariri and Geagea is possible at any time.
“We don’t have a veto on any candidate for the presidency. But this does not mean that we will elect anyone for the presidency. We are interested in the [political] plan and not in the person,” he said.
In another interview with MTV, Riachi said a meeting between Geagea and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is possible to discuss the alternatives to Frangieh’s nomination.
LF MP Antoine Zahra said an internationally backed initiative supporting Frangieh’s nomination for the presidency has been bogged down as a result of objections from both sides of the political divide, ruling out a breakthrough in the presidential deadlock before the end of the year.
“The presidential initiative has been put off to the new year. The LF has presented political questions to Frangieh about the LF’s sovereigntyproject,” Zahra told The Daily Star.
Although it is backed by regional and international powers, including Saudi Arabia, Frangieh’s presidential bid is facing strong opposition from the three main Christian parties: The FPM, the LF and the Kataeb Party.
Zahra said Frangieh’s nomination is also facing obstacles from the March 8 camp after Aoun has refused to withdraw from the race in favor of Frangieh, while Hezbollah has upheld its support for the FPM leader’s candidacy for the country’s top Christian post. “The March 8 bloc now has two presidential candidates: Aoun and Frangieh.”
Hariri is backing Frangieh’s nomination as part of an initiative to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the presidential void and revive the work of Parliament and the government paralyzed by the power vacuum.
MP Walid Jumblatt criticized rival factions, blaming them for obstructing Frangieh’s presidential bid.
“A settlement on the election of MP Sleiman Frangieh as president has been stalled or delayed due to a surprising and weird agreement by parties that are contradictory in form at least,” Jumblatt tweeted Saturday.
Jumblatt, who supports Frangieh’s nomination, implicitly criticized Hezbollah’s silence on the Zghorta MP’s bid.
“On the one hand, there is suspicious silence by the resistance front [Hezbollah] that didn’t explain to us why it objects to the election of Frangieh despite his clear affiliation and support of it,” he said. “On the other hand, is the sovereign front, and I mean the LF, which we respect and appreciate, which converges with the resistance front in rejecting [Frangieh’s] nomination.”
For his part, Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel said the real problem is that the Lebanese political system has failed and needs to be changed and developed, adding that it was disgraceful for the presidential election to be decided by foreign powers.
“The political system under which we live today, which led to a civil war, divisions and obstruction of institutions, has proved to be a failure,” Gemayel said during a swearing-in ceremony held for new Kataeb members at the Michel Sleiman sports complex in Jbeil. “We aspire to change and develop this system.” He said even if MPs were able to elect a Lebanese president “we will stay without a government for a year under such a system,” reiterating the need for a new electoral law.
Implicitly referring to Frangieh’s presidential bid, Gemayel said the Kataeb Party would only support a candidate whose political blueprint conformed with the party’s blueprint. “No one can force the Kataeb to take a stance contrary to its principles. … No one can force us to vote against our conviction and principles,” he said.
Gemayel slammed politicians who have allegiance to foreign powers. “Lebanese parties and politicians take orders from outside. There is talk today that this or that state will decide who the president is. Shame. This is a lack of respect by our politicians who link their decision to outside [powers] and leave Lebanon without institutions.”