Source: Principal
The echoes of the Taif Forum held at UNESCO, on the occasion of the 33 years since the signing of the Taif Agreement in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, remained, both with national, multiple participation, and with speeches and words that reflected the urgency to adhere to the constitution that emerged from it, “to keep the formula of coexistence” because without adhering to the content of this agreement it will be the alternative but to go further into the unknown, according to what the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said in Beirut, Walid Bukhari, said in his speech Karim Kabbara, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, former President Michel Suleiman, former MP Walid Jumblatt, former MP Suleiman Franjieh, the deputy presidential candidate Michel Moawad and the former deputy Algerian foreign minister Lakhdar Brahimi, who played a decisive role in reaching the agreement.
In particular, Ambassador Bukhari revealed that France has no intention of inviting leaders to a national meeting and dialogue, and there is no French intention of proposing a sectarian appeal or debate or amending the constitution.
According to the political circles concerned, the forum was a step to block any attempt to elect a new president of the republic, whose loyalty or agenda does not stem from the inclusion of Taif at all levels.
A high-level source who attended the forum told Al-Liwaa that the UNESCO conference opened the door to Lebanese-Arab-international understanding of a presidential candidate.
Earlier in the week, when the joint committees held a session to discuss several bills, most notably Capital Control, the presidential election dossier remained in the foreground.
Political sources expected the presidential election session next Thursday to chart the course of the electoral process after a deadlock, preventing the March 8 forces from nominating their presidential candidate and voting with carte blanche, in front of the opposition candidate Michel Moawad, due to a possible change of position of the current bloc The Free Patriotic Movement, in the direction of nominating a presidential candidate, in place of the White Paper option, which in practice leads to visibility in the transition of presidential elections to a new stage.
The sources say that the identification of the Free Patriotic Movement, appointing a presidential candidate independent of the agreement with his ally Hezbollah and party allies, did not happen by chance, but took place after the meeting of the movement’s leader, the representative Gibran Bassil, with the general secretary of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah recently, during which the discussion addressed the question of the elections. And it was not as Basil wished, who refused Nasrallah’s advice to support the candidacy of his political opponent, the head of the Marada movement, Suleiman Franjieh, and refused to meet him, to understand the question of the presidential elections and agree between them on the candidate accepted by both of them, and the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement insisted that it be him. presidency, as it represents the largest Christian parliamentary bloc, while he misses Franjieh, whose bloc he lost in the last parliamentary elections, and does not have the popular appeal that qualifies him to run for the first presidency.
The sources note, citing the FPM circles, that its president, who did not reveal the name of the candidate who will vote him in next Thursday’s session, is behaving with an emotion that is no longer a secret to anyone, after the failure to impose conditions for Prime Minister-designate Mikati to form a new government and the end of the term of office of President Michel Aoun. And he stressed that his announcement of his upcoming visit to Damascus and his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not increase his chances of running for president or supporting any of the current-affiliated candidates, given that this visit does not it is appropriate in this particular circumstance, and increases the isolation of Basil and his movement from the rest of the parties. , because what they want from bullying and support factors are no longer what they used to be.
Sources expected the Free Patriotic Movement to hold a meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, to clarify the final position it will adopt in Thursday’s election session and nominate the candidate who will vote for it, and who has remained hidden, while ruling out that Basil will present himself as candidate for president from now on, before securing the minimum number of votes. Support and sympathy from his ally Hezbollah, and this is not yet available. Rather, he will nominate a candidate among those who will choose the friends of the movement, to investigate the reaction towards him, in particular from his ally, and thus determine his final choice.
This will be determined tomorrow at the meeting of the strong Lebanon bloc.
