After a series of connected movements, including a visit to President Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh, the "five-party meeting" in Yarze with Iranian Ambassador Mojtaba Amani, and a meeting with Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Latif Derian and President Najib Mikati, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari gathered the ambassadors of the Arab-international five-party committee at his residence in Yarze yesterday. The ambassadors included the U.S. Ambassador Lisa Johnson, French Ambassador Hervé Magro, Qatari Ambassador Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman bin Faisal Al Thani, and Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Moussa.
Diplomatic sources described the meeting of the five-party committee ambassadors as a serious attempt to create a roadmap to implement the committee’s commitments to help Lebanon out of the presidential vacuum and elect a president, despite recent regional developments following the events of October 7 and the Israeli war on Gaza, which have occupied the committee's member states with their ramifications on the Arab region and the world.
The sources noted that there is an understanding among the committee members on the necessity of separating the presidential election process from the war in Gaza, to prevent Lebanon from becoming engulfed in its multiple crises. They indicated that among the priorities agreed upon is to intensify communications with all political parties and MPs, to brief them on the meeting’s outcomes, and to inform them of the desire of the five-party committee to assist them in overcoming their disputes, and in bridging viewpoints among them for electing a president who enjoys the required consensus and does not provoke any party, as soon as possible, without delving into candidate names. It is considered that the responsibility for electing a president lies with the Lebanese themselves, while the task of the five-party committee is to help and remove obstacles.
The sources linked the speed of the actions by the five-party committee’s ambassadors to the current situation aimed at mitigating the risks of Israel carrying out a military operation against Hezbollah, to alter the military and security realities in the south, following a series of Israeli threats directed at Lebanon. Reports suggested that one of the Arab committee ambassadors conveyed a threat from the Israeli side to senior Lebanese officials recently, stating that Hezbollah must cease its activities at the southern Lebanese border by the end of the month, otherwise Israel would carry out its threats with a large-scale military operation to revert the situation to what it was before October 7.
According to the information, the five-party committee seeks to unify its supportive stance, not to replace the Lebanese position, which should unify or align with the external opportunity to facilitate the council’s task in electing a president without delay, to engage with ongoing negotiations that have yet to materialize in the region, following the cessation of the Gaza war.
The ambassadors of the five-party committee will present a report on their vision for a solution at a meeting expected to be held in mid-February in Riyadh with representatives from the five member states, before French mediator Jean-Yves Le Drian returns to Beirut to announce the direction in a press conference, placing the practical measures in the hands of the Parliament's presidency.
An informed diplomat stated that what is happening is akin to a "five-party Taif" to end the vacancy in Baabda Palace and place Lebanon on a path of permanent stability and a return to normalcy. According to the information, the insistence of the five-party committee on making a breakthrough in the presidential stagnation stems from an understanding with President Berri to act politically, regardless of developments in Gaza and the south.
Ambassador Moussa stated that the aim of the meeting is to continue consultations and maintain a unified stance within the five-party committee while evaluating what has occurred and the future steps to deal with the presidential file in Lebanon. It is noted that Berri's political aide announced readiness "to discuss a comprehensive agreement to facilitate the electoral process."
Informed political sources told "Al-Liwaa" that anticipation prevails regarding the next steps following the meeting of the five-party committee ambassadors and the available circumstances for action. They indicated that the new movement is ongoing, but the facts indicate that there is a wait for a clearer picture from Gaza and the potential for a ceasefire to be followed by a calming in the south, allowing for a deeper dive into the Lebanese file. They reported that nothing is finalized in the new movement, but there is a prevailing desire domestically to accomplish these elections, with the challenge lying in the mechanism that will be agreed upon, especially as the subject of shifting the stances of the powers regarding their candidates has not yet matured.
