Five sessions, and perhaps six or more, have passed while the presidential vacancy continues to generate crises and transfer them to constitutional institutions successively, reflecting an abnormal situation that seems to be shifting from an exception to a rule. The fear, above all, is a repetition of the scenario of the vacancy preceding the election of President Michel Aoun, which could bring about calamities, especially under a catastrophic circumstance that is unlike the country’s previous conditions. There is a deadlock and mutual conditions among the political forces, confusion and fragmentation within the same household between the troubled allies and the opposition, each singing their own tune. Political immaturity among some reformists has reached the point where they wish that the names they dropped in the ballot box would not be repeated, as they are not candidates, while others are immersed in inventing phrases that fall short of what is expected in presidential election sessions in a collapsing country.
The proponents of the bland and colorless white paper are not in a better position than the change forces, as they fail to mend the rift between the leaders of the Free Patriotic Movement, MP Gibran Bassil, and the Marada Movement’s Suleiman Frangieh, both aspiring to the presidency. The Shiite duo's desire for Frangieh is no longer hidden, and their singular justification for obscuring their incapacity is the wish for a consensual president who fits their own interpretation of consensus. Yesterday, the head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, stated that they want a president who does not stab the resistance in the back, while the sovereign forces reject a settlement president because he prolongs the crisis rather than launching a path to a solution.
In light of this reality, the ball remains in the opposition's court, which leadership sources tell "Al-Markaziya" holds the solution and the authority. Yes. After the fifth session, where Michel Moawad's score reached 44, the actual number of his supporters is now 47 or more, due to some of them being abroad for necessity. MP George Adwan predicted yesterday that it would reach 55 in the sixth session, meaning that the number is gradually approaching the required 65 in the second round of voting, which is half plus one. What is needed, according to those sources, is ten more MPs to join Moawad's candidates' club, thus placing the initiative in the hands of the opposition, allowing them to pressure the loyalist side to move, whether with Moawad or another personality whose card might still be hidden. In either case, it would put an end to the prolonged vacancy.
Thus, according to those sources, a conscience awakening and a national choice are required from those aspiring for change who do not take steps that lead to it. Remaining in the gray area will change nothing and does not align with their reformist slogan. If they intend to pair words with action and translate the dreams of the tens of thousands of Lebanese who revolted on October 17, who are ready to revolt again if a single candidate is unified for election and ending the vacancy, the roadmap is clear before them, and descending the white paper from its lofty position to end the vacancy is possible. Otherwise, the scenarios of yesterday linger, and the worst is yet to come.
