The concern of the head of the "Progressive Socialist Party," Walid Jumblatt, regarding the deterioration of living, economic, and financial conditions in Lebanon due to the impossibility of electing a president has dominated the agenda of his meeting with the political assistant to the Secretary-General of "Hezbollah," Hussein Khalil, and with the head of the "Relations and Coordination Unit" in the party, Wafiq Safa. Although the meeting took place at Jumblatt's request and included his son, Taymour, head of the "Democratic Gathering" parliamentary bloc, for the first time, ensuring the minimum level of food security for the vast majority of Lebanese citizens amidst the ongoing surge in the exchange rate of the dollar and the decline of the national currency’s purchasing power was a prominent topic. This was to prevent security instability from spiraling out of control. This led him to discuss with the "Hezbollah" delegation a set of ideas, as indicated by leadership sources in the "Progressive," to break the deadlock surrounding the presidential election by agreeing on a candidate who does not pose a challenge to the party and provides reassurance.
The sources pointed out that Jumblatt started, in his call for reaching an understanding on a president who does not classify as a challenge to any faction, from the premise that supporters of MP Michel Moawad's presidential candidacy cannot secure a parliamentary majority to guarantee his win, and the same applies to supporters of former MP Sleiman Franjieh, head of the "Marada Movement." Jumblatt mentioned that there is a necessity, given this reality, to meet halfway to formulate a unified stance that would help conclude the deadlock in electing a president, especially since parliamentary sessions allocated for this purpose have turned into absurdity, which forces us to reconsider the participation of the "Democratic Gathering" MPs in these sessions.
Jumblatt proposed the names of three candidates to gauge the party's opinion on them, namely: Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, former MP Salah Hanin, and former Minister Jihad Azour. Notably, he did not comment on them negatively or positively, except for Khalil stating that Aoun's election requires a constitutional amendment, which necessitates approval from a two-thirds majority to amend it.
Khalil, as expressed by sources familiar with the atmosphere of the meeting, viewed that the party supports Franjieh’s candidacy, even though it has not officially stated its position publicly. He noted that Franjieh believes in partnership, shows openness to everyone, and has external relations, and is held in esteem and respect. This implies that Khalil was cautious in expressing his opinion on Jumblatt’s proposal until he briefs Nasrallah on the context of the meeting. The same sources believed that the party supports Franjieh’s candidacy because it thinks the opportunity to elevate him to the presidency is available, and thus it is not inclined to easily discard its cards. They revealed that Khalil referred to the party's relationship with the leader of the "Free Patriotic Movement," MP Gebran Bassil, from the angle that he agreed with Nasrallah to continue consultations after they parted ways due to disagreements over supporting Franjieh's candidacy.
However, Bassil, according to Khalil, broke the agreement by launching media campaigns, which several MPs aligned with him quickly joined after being preceded in this context by former President Michel Aoun. Nevertheless, the party, according to the sources, preferred not to engage in media and political disputes with its ally, seemingly adhering to a policy of patience in dealing with him, hoping Bassil might reassess his stances and recalibrate his calculations, without implying that the relationship between the allies would return to its previous state.
The sources confirmed that the party concurred with Jumblatt’s statement during the meeting that among the conditions for supporting any presidential candidate to ensure their victory is to have backing from one of the two Christian blocs, and it would be preferable to have support from both. They noted that the party unequivocally supported the warnings Jumblatt had issued regarding the resurgence of calls for partition and federalism, which have begun to rear their heads, citing the ongoing vacancy in the presidency.
They clarified that it is unacceptable to interpret the meeting between the "Progressive" and "Hezbollah" as merely a mobilization of Islamic components against Christian components in parliament. They emphasized that this was not the case, especially since Jumblatt is leading calls for dialogue and supports the stance of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in this regard. Additionally, he continues to endorse Moawad's presidential candidacy and aligns himself with the "Lebanese Forces" and "Kataeb" parties as well as independent Christian MPs. Furthermore, MP Jumblatt has maintained communication with his colleague Tony Suleiman Franjieh, occasionally meeting with MPs outside of the former March 14 Alliance, most notably Faisal Omar Karami.
Jumblatt emphasized, according to the sources, the urgency of approaching the International Monetary Fund to assist Lebanon in overcoming its crises. He called for the establishment of a sovereign fund to manage the oil sector, and he also discussed with Khalil the ongoing preparations for Paris to host a conference intended to pressure for the election of a president.
It has been reported, as the "Middle East" learned, that Lebanon has not been notified of the date for the conference and that Parliament Speaker Berri’s reception of the French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo did not bring any new developments except for her reiteration of the French position on the necessity of expediting the adoption of the required reforms internationally as a condition for assistance, in addition to stressing that a president must be elected sooner rather than later, and that there is no candidate for Paris, which respects the will of the MPs and interacts positively and openly with the elected president without mentioning the preparations for a conference in the French capital dedicated to Lebanon.
