The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri is eager to preserve the deep alliance with the Lebanese Forces, two senior Future Movement officials told the Christian Party’s leader Samir Geagea Wednesday. Meanwhile, Parliament failed for the 33rd time to elect a president, with a new session to select a head of state set for Jan. 7.
Nader Hariri, the director of former Premier Hariri’s office, and Hani Hammoud, his media adviser, discussed the latest developments, particularly the presidential deadlock with Geagea, during a meeting at the LF leader’s Maarab residence.
Hariri and Hammoud conveyed to Geagea the Future Movement leader’s keenness to maintain the deeply entrenched alliance between the LF and the Future Movement, a statement by the National News Agency said.
The attendees also highlighted that it was important for the March 14 coalition to adhere to its strategy and principles.
LF MP Fadi Karam and the party’s media officer Melhem Riachi were also on hand.
The visit comes weeks after Hariri reportedly expressed his support for Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh’s presidential candidacy during a meeting between the two leaders in Paris, a move staunchly opposed by Geagea.
Frangieh’s presidential bid is also opposed by the Kataeb Party and the Free Patriotic Movement.
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.
Frangieh will appear in a TV interview with LBCI Thursday evening to comment on the latest developments related to his candidacy.
The Maarab meeting came hours after lawmakers botched a 33rd attempt to elect a new head of state, prompting Speaker Nabih Berri to adjourn the vote until next month.
Only 45 legislators showed up for the midday session at Parliament headquarters in Downtown Beirut. The legal quorum requires the presence of 86 lawmakers.
MPs from Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc and Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance bloc have thwarted a quorum since April 2014 by boycotting parliamentary sessions, demanding an agreement beforehand with their March 14 foes over a consensus candidate.Addressing a joint news conference he held with Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan in Parliament after the failed session, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said that Hariri was still holding contacts on several levels, noting that the Future Movement leader was discussing ideas “that have not yet become a full-fledged” initiative to end the presidential deadlock.
Asked whether the Future Movement has begun looking for a new candidate to back other than Frangieh, Siniora said that any Lebanese had the right to run for presidency. “We will look into the matter once a candidate is seriously proposed,” Siniora said, adding that he did not know about the emergence of new candidates.
For his part, Adwan said that any settlement should be in line with the laws and Constitution.
“We as the Lebanese Forces say that if you want a settlement between the March 8 and March 14 coalitions, then let’s sit down together to reach a national settlement which serves a project that requires that both groups render concessions for the sake of the country,” Adwan said.
“This project cannot be but in line with the Constitution, law and commitment to international resolutions,” Adwan said.
MP Salim Salhab, from Aoun’s bloc, said that if a settlement was reached under which Frangieh would be elected a president, “we will elect him.”
“The [Hariri] initiative [to nominate Frangieh] is not dead yet, but is on the back burner right now,” Salhab told a local radio station.
The lawmaker stressed that the electoral law was the “starting point” of any settlement.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah and the Future Movement will hold a new round of dialogue at Speaker Nabih Berri’s Ain al-Tineh residence Thursday, almost one year after the two parties held their first round of talks.