All "presidential radars" are now focused on the outside after the March 8 forces succeeded in dismantling the national and constitutional effects of the electoral process, binding it in long vacancy chains under the weight of the disagreements among its key figures and varying priorities of their personal and regional agendas. The result has been an extension of the presidential crisis and a blockage of the avenues leading to its resolution, awaiting the moment of an external settlement that Hezbollah is waiting for to determine its stance and clarify its orientation in the tug of war between "Bnechii" and "Mirna al-Chalouhi". However, so far, signals of external interest in the Lebanese presidential file have not moved beyond the phase of waiting, gauging sentiments, and polling opinions and chances from the viewpoint of the required and accepted specifications, both Arab and international, for the next Lebanese president who will be capable of steering the country towards the promised reforms and salvation in the forthcoming phase... This is the essence of the message carried by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Ethan Goldrich, who arrived in Beirut yesterday to confirm the inevitability of the correlation between "implementing reforms and Lebanon receiving international support". This is also the "core message" that French President Emmanuel Macron intends to convey during his upcoming visit to southern Lebanon to greet the French soldiers working as part of the "UNIFIL" forces. Sources well-informed on the matter revealed to "Nidaa Al-Watan" that Macron's visit to the south during the holidays "has become confirmed and is included in the agenda of his tour in the region, after recent media reports suggested the possibility of its cancellation".
As for recent developments in the tense presidential race regarding the candidacy struggle between Hezbollah allies Sleiman Franjieh and Gibran Bassil, informed sources following the March 8 climate conveyed to "Nidaa Al-Watan" that the head of the "Mardah Movement" is working "diligently and quietly to garner external support for his candidacy, especially at the Arab level". They clarified that the available information indicates that "influential individuals close to Franjieh are marketing him through Arab diplomatic channels, in addition to efforts aimed at boosting his chances regionally, led personally by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati through his meetings and communications with Arab leaders".
The sources affirmed that Franjieh "does not seem inclined to surrender easily this time to Bassil's intimidation as he did before Michel Aoun". They noted that the head of the "Free Patriotic Movement" has placed all his bets on the notion that "Qatar's role will contribute to thwarting any external inclination towards supporting Franjieh's candidacy, especially after he sensed a clear French openness during his visit to Paris towards considering this option if it were not met with an Arab veto", alongside the "shock" caused by Franjieh's hosting at the celebration organized by the Saudi embassy in Beirut last month for the 33rd anniversary of the signing of the Taif Agreement.
