Yesterday, the explicit attack launched by MP Alain Aoun against the nomination of “the Shiite duo” candidate, Sleiman Frangieh of the Marada Movement, for the presidency drew attention. He expressed the dissatisfaction of the “Free Patriotic Movement” at their ally “Hezbollah” backing Frangieh as the “sole candidate” for the presidency. Aoun stated, “It is not acceptable for the ‘party’ to tell us that they only trust Sleiman Frangieh. If Hezbollah trusts only Frangieh, then the problem lies with them, not with the rest of the Lebanese people.”
In comments regarding this situation, well-informed sources within the “Free Patriotic Movement” anticipated that “the escalation from the movement would increase until Hezbollah withdraws support for Frangieh; otherwise, Bassil would not hesitate to cross red lines in his relationship with ‘the party’ both internally and externally, simply because he is not prepared to shoot himself in the foot if Mr. Hassan Nasrallah insists on Frangieh's nomination, even if it costs him the termination of the ‘Mar Mikhael Understanding.’”
Meanwhile, the farce of “the white paper and quorum obstruction” continues in the Parliament amid ongoing confusion within the March 8 forces regarding the presidential nominations. The seventh voting session yesterday replicated the outcomes of previous sessions in the ballot box, surrounded by heated debates over the required legal quorum in the second electoral round, particularly between MP Sami Gemayel and several change MPs on one side and the speaker and MPs of the “Amal Movement” on the other.
Notably, MP George Adwan from the “Strong Republic Bloc” reaffirmed the bloc’s position calling for the need to maintain a two-thirds quorum for electing the president in the first, second, and subsequent rounds “despite the quorum issue not being mentioned in the constitution.” However, he at the same time emphasized that the main obstacle to completing the presidential process is the deliberate obstruction of the electoral process by certain MPs, as “the constitution also prohibits boycotting sessions, and this is their parliamentary responsibility.”
