Sources for "Al-Liwaa" considered that the recent stance of President Michel Aoun, expressing his disgust with the current situation, is an indicator of how miserable the Aounian era has become, a state that no previous term has reached. They commented on this position by stating: President Michel Aoun has prematurely declared his disgust with the current conditions, and he has four months left to fulfill his series of hollow promises, after spending nearly six years preoccupied with fictitious battles and deliberately obstructing governments, leading to a transformation of the term's slogan from reform and change to a clear slogan of corruption and destruction.
The sources added that the reasons for President Aoun's apparent frustration are many, foremost among them his complete failure to secure the presidential seat for his political heir, MP Gibran Bassil, after all avenues were closed to ensure his arrival to the presidency, starting from the failure of all attempts to secure a significant ministerial space for Bassil and his political team in the new government, along with a noticeable aversion from all effective political forces to him. He has not succeeded in establishing positive and friendly relationships with them throughout the term, and even his sole ally, Hezbollah, does not seem enthusiastic about supporting his candidacy for the presidency. Additionally, the American sanctions imposed on him for corruption have dashed all hopes of obtaining the necessary support from the United States for his candidacy, and more importantly, his opposition to the brotherly Arab countries does not bode well, while his reliance on the support of the Syrian and Iranian regimes appears less promising than he had imagined.
The sources indicated that another reason for the president's disgust is the shrinking support and sympathy among Christians towards his party, which was clearly shown in the results of the recent parliamentary elections, where the number of deputies in the Free Patriotic Movement dropped to seventeen, making it the second Christian bloc after the Lebanese Forces. The decline in popular support that was previously around seventy percent has now fallen to about thirty percent, a very alarming figure.
Additionally, there are other reasons for the president's displeasure, such as the loss of three candidates in the recent parliamentary elections that he personally endorsed: Dr. Walid Khoury in Jbeil, Eddi Maalouf in Metn, and Amal Abu Zaid in Jezzine. Moreover, the disputes that emerged after the elections indicate significant cracks among prominent leaders in the party and the party president, with clear signs of a noticeable fragmentation and a desire among some of these leaders to leave the party once President Michel Aoun's term ends soon, as it will be impossible for them to continue under Bassil's leadership.
