Hussein Dakroub| The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri has launched a flurry of political activity aimed at reaching an accord to break the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president for 18 months, March 14 sources said Monday.

“Hariri has received regional and international signals to revive inter-Lebanese dialogue with the aim of reaching an agreement on a consensus candidate for the presidency,” a Christian March 14 source told The Daily Star.

Highlighting the importance of the talks Hariri has been holding in Paris and Riyadh with Lebanese politicians over the presidential crisis, the source cautioned that a regional-international accord, mainly a Saudi-Iranian accord, was essential for the success of any deal to elect a new president.

His remarks came as Kataeb Party leader MP Sami Gemayel arrived in Paris Monday night for talks with Hariri on the presidential impasse that has thrown the legislative and executive branches into paralysis.

Gemayel is the latest Lebanese politician to arrive in Paris for talks with the head of the Future Movement on the vacuum in the country’s top Christian post.

Hariri met the day before at his residence in Paris with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and the two have agreed to exert efforts to reach a political agreement in Lebanon in line with a call issued by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah earlier this month for an all-embracing settlement on key issues, such as the presidency, the government and a new electoral law.

“The meeting focused on the situation in Lebanon and the region, the enduring political crisis and the serious risks it poses on Lebanon’s National Pact, stability, security and national economy amid the ongoing bloodshed in our Arab surrounding,” a statement released Monday by Hariri’s media office said.

Hariri and Jumblatt “agreed on the necessity to exert all efforts to reach an all-embracing national settlement that would preserve our National Pact, consecrate the Taif Accord’s authority, address the presidential vacancy crisis, get constitutional institutions to function, reactivate the work of the government and Parliament, ensure a political and security umbrella to protect Lebanon, revitalize its national economy, and find solutions to the accumulated social crises.”

It added that the two leaders also agreed to pursue contacts with other Lebanese parties to find ways to launch this settlement the soonest.

The meeting was also attended by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, former MPs Bassem Sabeh and Ghattas Khoury, and Nader Hariri, director of Hariri’s office.

Lebanon has been without a president since former President Michel Sleiman’s term ended in May 2014. Parliament failed on Nov. 11 in the 31st successive attempt to choose a president due to a lack of quorum. A new Parliament electoral session is slated for Dec. 2.

Rival leaders will resume their talks on the presidential crisis during a new round of national dialogue Wednesday. The presidency is the first and main topic on the agenda.

In a televised speech two days after the deadly twin suicide bombings that struck the southern Beirut suburb of Burj al-Baranjeh on Nov. 12, killing 46 people and wounding over 200 others, Nasrallah urged rival factions to keep the momentum of solidarity going for as long as possible and to reach an all-inclusive political settlement on key issues, such as the presidency and an electoral law.

Hariri has welcomed Nasrallah’s call, stressing that the presidential election is the key to a settlement.

Media reports over the past few days said Hariri had also held a rare meeting in Paris with Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh last week. But officials from both sides have denied any such meeting took place.

Although Frangieh, part of the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance, is also a presidential candidate, he has said he supported MP Michel Aoun for president as long as the latter remained in the race.

Hariri met in Riyadh at the weekend with former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk, Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari and other Future Movement officials to discuss the political crisis.

Frangieh said Lebanon’s next president should be a guarantor for all political and religious groups.

“Lebanon should remain a starting point for intellect and a secure bastion for freedom and solidarity among all Christian and Muslim groups,” Frangieh said during a meeting with a delegation from the executive council of the Maronite League at his residence in Bneshaai.

“Any president who will have the chance to assume this post must be a guarantor for all partisan, political and religious groups and civil society, which is today playing an important role in this framework,” he added.