With Lebanon recording the second highest inflation rate in the world, behind Zimbabwe and ahead of Venezuela, the authorities continue to maneuver around the requirements for reform through media spectacles and parliamentary displays that fall within the same theatrical context aimed at stalling time and exhausting opportunities and solutions while waiting for an "external settlement" that acknowledges the power of the de facto forces and tightens their grip on governance. From this perspective, the March 8 forces are awaiting the effects of the French-American summit and its implications for the developments in the Lebanese file, linking it to Hezbollah's bet that President Emmanuel Macron will play an active role in forming the desired "link" between Washington and Tehran regarding the "Lebanese paper."
However, a diplomatic source in Paris confirmed to "Nidaa Al-Watan" that "the French president will strive to separate the Lebanese presidential entitlement from the complexities of the Iranian nuclear file and will seek to build on the Iranian green light that accompanied the American efforts to finalize the Lebanese maritime demarcation with Israel, aiming to complete his endeavors to end the vacancy in the Lebanese presidency."
The diplomatic source clarified that "despite the crowded agenda of the French president's meeting with President Joe Biden, and despite the significant divergences in viewpoints between the two countries that will be discussed item by item during the meeting, President Macron will raise the issue of Lebanon clearly on the discussion table from the standpoint of highlighting the urgent need to place the Lebanese presidential file on the American priority list at this stage."
Revealing that "three presidential options will be seriously discussed" between Macron and Biden, the leader of the army, General Joseph Aoun, tops the list as he is seen as capable of securing Lebanese, regional, and international alignments supporting his election as president.
Alongside the military leader option, which the French side believes could attract American and Saudi support for his election, the second option on Macron's agenda will focus on "exploring the extent to which Washington will proceed with a Lebanese settlement that leads to the election of March 8 candidate Sleiman Frangieh as president in exchange for selecting a figure from the sovereign team for the premiership, paving the way for selling such a settlement to Saudi Arabia, without which Macron will not approve any Lebanese solution that lacks its endorsement."
The third option will come from among "the list of presidential candidates classified as moderate or consensual in the Lebanese lexicon." In light of what will result from Macron's meeting with Biden, the diplomatic source anticipated that "the French president will obtain a new American mandate to continue the task of achieving the Lebanese presidential entitlement, to subsequently undertake his efforts in this direction with Saudi and Iranian sides," while also noting that "Macron's visit to the United States precedes its continuous coordination with the Vatican, which urges France to play a serious and pressing role to mature the Lebanese presidency file and end the vacancy as soon as possible."
