Nothing suggests that there is serious movement regarding the presidential position, and it seems that the vacancy has become a "trend." The front-runner to succeed President Michel Aoun at the Baabda Palace is perceived to be the one most likely to take over, while all parties regard the weapon of obstructing election sessions as their legitimate right, indifferent to the concerns and suffering of the people, thus transforming Lebanon into a living and economically isolated island. In contrast, everyone is now narrowing their political meetings to mere living issues.
This context frames the statement of the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, Walid Jumblatt, following his meeting with Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati yesterday at the latter's residence in Beirut, where he said: "We discussed practical matters with His Excellency the President, such as electricity, border demarcation, and educational issues. As for the larger matters, I leave them to others who are grasping the historical moment. I focus on the smaller issues with humility."
Observing "Walid Bey's" current movements closely suggests that he is concocting some sort of settlement, despite his denial policy—especially since he has begun to court Hezbollah after having previously engaged in fierce confrontations against it. Even if one concedes to his critics' perspectives on his shifting stances, he remains a spearhead in any upcoming entitlement—alongside his long-time friend and partner in the political kitchen, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, as they both prepare for a phase following Aoun's exit from the palace.
What Jumblatt and Berri are doing is arranging conducive circumstances for the election of a president, and they assume they will have the final say. Reports indicate that efforts are underway to set rules and regulations for the entitlement to prevent any normalization of the vacancy. There are those preparing constitutionally, and legal studies have been incessant, in a conspiracy aimed at not allowing the power to be handed over to a caretaker government presided over by Mikati. Meanwhile, on the side of the trio—Berri, Mikati, and Jumblatt—they will hold a series of consultations in the near future, and they are putting in place the "seven spices" constitutionally to transfer full powers to the resigned government until the presidential vacancy is resolved.
