Naharnet has interviewed presidential hopeful and Lebanon’s former candidate for World Bank chief Ziad Hayek about his presidential chances and plans.

Hayek, 63, was Secretary General of Lebanon's High Council for Privatization and PPP from 2006 until he was nominated to be President of the World Bank in February 2019. Hayek is currently Vice Chair of the Bureau of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe Working Party on PPP, Head of the International Center of Excellence in PPP for Ports, President of the World Association of PPP Units & Professionals, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Member of the Investment Committee of World YMCA, and High Commissioner for Lebanon at the World Business Angels Investment Forum.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday suggested holding “national dialogue” over the presidential election, as he criticized Speaker Nabih Berri for choosing October 13 as a date for the upcoming presidential vote session.

Reciting the FPM’s “presidential priorities” paper, Bassil said the new president must “preserve national sovereignty, protect the border and the full rights, devise a defense strategy in which the state is the main authority, preserve and develop Lebanon’s ties with the world, and achieve a swift and safe repatriation of the displaced Syrians.”

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday ordered the Israeli army to be on alert in the north amid an apparent setback in the efforts to reach a maritime border deal with Lebanon.

Gantz will hold a situational assessment with the army’s chief of staff and other security officials, after Israel said it will not accept Lebanese amendments to a U.S.-brokered deal, Israeli media reports said.

President Michel Aoun said Thursday that Lebanon’s remarks over U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein’s latest proposal “guarantee Lebanon’s right to oil and gas exploration in the fields specified in the Exclusive Economic Zone.”

“These remarks also prevent any interpretations that do not conform to the framework specified by Lebanon for the demarcation process during the negotiations that lasted for months,” Aoun added, during a meeting with caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim.

A Lebanese official involved in the negotiations to demarcate the sea border between Lebanon and Israel told AFP on Thursday that "Lebanon has not yet been notified of Israel's response,” shortly after a senior Israeli official said that Israel will reject Lebanon's latest amendments to a U.S.-drafted proposal.

The official, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the talks, said Beirut's negotiators had been working with U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein "all night... to clarify some points."

Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati held talks Thursday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mikati said he briefed the patriarch on “the important issue that is about to be finalized, which is related to the demarcation of the maritime border.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled a second presidential election session for Thursday, October 13.

The session will be held at 11:00 am.

MPs Walid al-Baarini, Mohammed Suleiman, Ahmed al-Kheir and Sajih Atiyeh of Akkar’s National Moderation Bloc, accompanied by the bloc’s secretary ex-MP Hadi Hbeish, on Wednesday held talks Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel and MPs Nadim Gemayel and Salim al-Sayegh at Kataeb’s headquarters in Saifi.

“We discussed what gathers us, especially the attempt to devise a common strategy for the presidential election,” Sami Gemayel said after the meeting.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday announced that his party’s parliamentary bloc “will continue to back MP Michel Mouawad’s nomination” for the presidency.

“He represents a choice and project that resemble us in terms of his understanding of national sovereignty and his faith in building a state and a non-corrupt administration,” Geagea said, in a Maarab meeting with French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo.

A Lebanese lawmaker entered a bank branch unarmed on Wednesday with two of her lawyers to free trapped dollar deposits she needs to pay for surgery, her lawyer said.

Cynthia Zarazir, who was elected to parliament in May polls, is the latest in a growing number of angry depositors who are forcing Lebanese lenders to unlock savings trapped under informal capital controls imposed amid an unprecedented financial crisis.