While everyone awaits the return of the French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian, which is expected next week, communications are intensifying in various directions to prepare for invitations to a seven-day dialogue and subsequent sessions for electing a president for the republic, according to the initiative of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. So far, it appears that the parliamentary majority supports this initiative, convinced that there is no luxury of time to delay the presidential election and commence building the new authority responsible for pulling the country out of collapse into recovery.
The dialogue-electoral initiative of the Parliament Speaker remains the main focus for political and parliamentary blocs, and the mapping of positions regarding it is nearing completion in preparation for deliberation before a decision is made on whether to invite dialogue. According to a senior political source who spoke to "Al-Joumhouria," the key question is: "Will the dialogue be held with those present?" The source noted that "the dialogue does not necessarily lead to the election of a president, but it can organize the disagreement en route to the election."
The source added, "The presidential election cannot be approached like other electoral matters. When an invitation is extended 13 times to elect a president in sessions that are constitutionally defined in terms of how they are conducted and the quorum necessary for attendance and voting, and we fail, this means we will not reach a president. Those who object to withdrawal to disrupt the quorum, which is their constitutional right, will play the same game and will begin disruption as well. This logic cannot be fragmented or dealt with in a partial or incomplete manner."
The source revealed that "the intention is to hold the dialogue after receiving clear and official responses from all parties to this invitation, and even the 'Lebanese Forces,' despite their public positions contradicting the results of the dialogue, have not yet sent a response." He concluded: "This dialogue has become more than necessary. Whoever wishes to boycott it must bear the responsibility."
In the meantime, in preparation for the dialogue, it was revealed yesterday that Berri sent a message through an envoy to Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rahi in Diman, outlining his directions regarding the presidential election. According to information provided to "Al-Joumhouria," the Patriarch received this message during the last week of August, which included the roadmap that the Speaker will adopt starting from early September to implement his dialogical-electoral initiative launched on the anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr. This initiative is set for the second half of this month, contingent upon receiving the desired responsiveness.
Additionally, the French initiative was present during the meeting of the Patriarch in Bkerke with the new French ambassador to Lebanon, Hervé Magro. They discussed the bilateral relations between Lebanon and France and the latest developments related to French efforts and Le Drian's mission in the coming days.
"Al-Joumhouria" learned that Magro has not yet received any specific instructions regarding the program of Le Drian's third visit to Beirut or its date, pending updates that might result from the contacts Le Drian is conducting from Paris with the parties of the quintet meeting and Lebanese officials, in light of the responses received from parliament members to the 38 messages he sent to Lebanese MPs.
