Mustaqbal Dismisses Reports of Imminent Aoun-Hariri 'Presidential Deal'
Al-Mustaqbal movement has poured cold water on remarks by a number of Free Patriotic Movement lawmakers about the presence of a certain “deal” with former premier Saad Hariri that would see FPM leader Michel Aoun reach the Baabda Palace, amid the insistence of FPM sources on the existence of such efforts.
In remarks published Sunday in the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, a prominent, unnamed Mustaqbal minister said it is most likely that the election of a new president will not happen within the constitutional timeframe, which ends on May 25, noting that a presidential vacuum is looming on the horizon.
“All reports alleging that there is a presidential deal between Aoun and Hariri are implausible and inaccurate, but should they start to materialize, that would be part of a grand settlement, which does not seem to be possible in the near future,” the Mustaqbal source said.
He pointed out that should Hariri decide to “return to the premiership, he would return when he wants to, without needing a deal with Aoun such as the one that is being promoted.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, a member of Hariri's Lebanon First bloc, said “the March 14 forces will carry on with supporting Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea's presidential bid.”
“We will fight Geagea's battle until the end but at the same time we will make sure to evaluate it as we move forward, in light of the available circumstances and chances,” Makari said, adding that “the next steps will be decided accordingly.”
For his part, March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid stressed to Asharq al-Awsat that Geagea will remain March 14's candidate and that the decision is irreversible at the moment.
“The battle's strategy will not change before Wednesday's session and all the parties concerned in the March 14 camp, including the Kataeb Party and its leader Amin Gemayel, have formed a collective leadership in order to oversee the coming electoral phases,” Soaid added.
As for the FPM, Change and Reform bloc MP Salim Salhab on Sunday told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that Aoun “will only nominate himself for the presidency if contacts manage to turn him into a consensual candidate, because he does not want to be a confrontational nominee.”
He revealed that there are consultations that might lead to choosing Aoun as a consensus candidate, emphasizing that “there are efforts to find a president who can resolve the crisis instead of merely managing it.”
On Saturday, Salhab's bloc colleague MP Alain Aoun had announced that the FPM was “communicating” with Mustaqbal, without ruling out the possibility that Hariri and his movement could endorse Aoun's candidacy.
Lebanon staged on Wednesday the first round of the presidential elections, but neither of the candidates, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and Democratic Gathering MP Henri Helou, garnered the needed 86 votes of lawmakers to win the polls.
The second round of the elections will be held on Wednesday with a candidate needing 65 votes in order to emerge victorious.
President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25 amid fears that the lack of consensus over a successor will lead to vacuum in the country's top post.
Y.R.
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