Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri vowed Friday to use his talks with MP Michel Aoun and the ongoing dialogue between his Future Movement and Hezbollah to accelerate the election of a new president, calling it a top priority.
He was speaking just hours before visiting Speaker Nabih Berri at the latter’s residence in Ain al-Tineh.
Hariri also underlined that the election of a president was pivotal in Lebanon’s battle against terrorism.
The Maronite Church, meanwhile, lamented Parliament’s repeated failure since April to choose a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, warning that the lingering presidential vacuum would plunge Lebanon into political turmoil.
“We consider the election of a president a top priority and we should shorten the waiting period as much as possible,” Hariri told members of the new board of the Press Federation who visited him at his Downtown Beirut residence.
“We hope through our relations with Gen. Michel Aoun and with our [March 14] allies, and through the ongoing dialogue with Hezbollah and the Amal Movement in Ain al-Tineh to open the door for electing a president,” he said.
Hariri’s remarks came two days after Parliament failed to elect a new president over a lack of quorum, prompting Berri to postpone the session to March 11.
Wednesday’s session was the 19th abortive attempt by Parliament since April to end the 9-month-old presidential vacuum as the rival political factions remain at odds over who should be chosen to assume the country’s top Christian post.
The repeated failure to elect a president has plunged the country into a prolonged presidential vacuum, which has paralyzed Parliament’s legislation and is threatening to cripple the government’s work. The Cabinet did not hold its weekly session Thursday due to differences among its 24 members over a mechanism to govern its work and its decision-making during the presidential vacuum.
Regarding his meeting with Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Hariri stressed that the simple fact of holding this meeting was a positive development that came after more than a year of dialogue between the Future Movement and the FPM.
“Our dialogue with him [Aoun] began more than a year ago. We hope for this dialogue to continue in a positive way,” the head of the Future Movement said, according to a statement released by his media office. “We encourage all parties to engage in dialogue because it is the only way to achieve the required solutions.”
The presidential deadlock was among the topics discussed by Hariri and Aoun during their meeting at the former’s Downtown Beirut residence Wednesday which was also attended by Aoun’s son-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. Hariri hosted a dinner for Aoun.
Aoun, the Hezbollah-backed presidential candidate, last year launched a dialogue with the Future Movement in order to enlist Hariri’s support for his bid for the presidency.
But the Future Movement and its March 14 allies are backing Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, Aoun’s arch political foe, for the presidency.
Hariri praised the Lebanese Army’s fight against Islamist militants entrenched in areas near the border with Syria and threatening to destabilize Lebanon, but underlined that the election of a president was crucial in the battle against terrorism.“The Army and security forces are fighting terrorism, but this cannot be completed without the presence of a new president, which is essential and necessary because he can talk with everyone without exception,” Hariri said. “It is shameful not to elect a president.”
Hariri assured the Lebanese that bolstering the Lebanese Army’s capabilities with French weapons funded by a $3 billion Saudi grant and another $1 billion Saudi grant to buy arms for the military and security forces were on the right track.
“This issue is progressing normally. The time it is taking is due to the manufacturing, delivery and training mechanisms,” he said. “But I assure you that there are no obstacles or veto, as some are saying.”
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Prime Minister Tammam Salam earlier this month during a meeting on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich that France would begin delivering weapons purchased with the $3 billion Saudi grant to the Lebanese military during the first week of April.
Hariri’s remarks came two days after the Future Movement and Hezbollah began discussing a joint national strategy to fight terrorism.
Meanwhile, the Council of Maronite Bishops warned of the dire consequences resulting from the continued vacancy in the presidency.
While welcoming the positive atmosphere that has prevailed as a result of the Future-Hezbollah dialogue and the preliminary dialogue between the FPM and LF, the bishops stressed that talks should lead to electing a new president.
“The bishops regret that the country continues to be left without a president, and Parliament’s failure to elect a president as it is required to do according to the Constitution,” said a statement issued after the council’s monthly meeting chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Bkirki, north of Beirut.
The statement said the election of a president has become a pressing necessity in view of the deteriorating socioeconomic crisis and security threats facing the country.
“Lebanon has entered a new stage with regard to the Cabinet crisis,” the statement said, referring to a rift among ministers over the Cabinet’s decision-making mechanism. “Searching for solutions [without] the election of a president will take the country to an unknown future with regard to the political system and will aggravate the socio-economic crisis, in addition to security threats,” the statement added.
The bishops hailed the Lebanese Army and security forces for combating “terrorist organizations” and ensuring security for all the Lebanese, but warned against linking Lebanon to regional axes, a move that contradicts the country’s national coexistence pact.
Maronite Bishop of Beirut Boulos Matar praised Hariri’s stances in defense of moderation in the Middle East and sectarian coexistence in Lebanon.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Hariri Friday night as an envoy from Rai, Matar said : “The talks were on developments of the situation in Lebanon and on the election of a president. During the bishops’ meeting in Bkirki this morning, we reaffirmed that the situation in Lebanon will not be normalized unless we have a president. This is very essential.”
For his part, MP Walid Jumblatt welcomed intra-Lebanese talks, saying the ongoing dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah would help reduce Sunni-Shiite tensions. “All political parties are responsible for preventing the country’s slide toward the fire of conflicts raging around us,” he said during a meeting of the Druze spiritual council.
Separately, FPM MP Ibrahim Kanaan discussed with Geagea the agenda for an expected meeting between the LF chief and Aoun. In his second preparatory visit to Geagea’s residence in Maarab, Kanaan discussed details of the joint document to be issued following the meeting between Geagea and Aoun.
