Hussein Dakroub & Hasan Lakkis BEIRUT: MP Michel Aoun said after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri Monday that minor progress had been made in the presidential crisis, despite the generally gloomy prospects for ending the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president for more than nine months.
The Free Patriotic Movement leader’s meeting with Berri came amid signs that several rounds of talks between the FPM and the Lebanese Forces have foundered over the presidential election deadlock, dashing hopes for a long-awaited meeting between Aoun and LF chief Samir Geagea.
“Aoun’s meeting with Berri could be the beginning of the quest for an alternative candidate,” political sources told The Daily Star.
Despite several rounds of hectic talks between officials from the FPM and LF covering key domestic issues, including the presidential election, the sources said: “Aoun’s relations with the LF are back to square one.”
With his presidential chances uncertain and the reconciliation attempt with Geagea in trouble, Aoun sought to raise some hope over the presidential impasse.
“Minor progress has been made in the presidential issue, regardless of who and how,” Aoun told reporters after meeting Berri in Ain al-Tineh, without elaborating.
He said his talks with Berri delved into “important issues relating to the Lebanese situation and other issues that influence this situation in our surrounding.”
“The presidential vote has gone through some phases. God willing, it reaches a full conclusion,” he said.
Asked to comment on the outcome of ongoing talks with the LF, Aoun said: “We will not give details because when details are made public, things will be spoiled.”
Aoun, supported by the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance for the country’s top Christian post against Geagea, the March 14 coalition-backed candidate, has vowed not to withdraw from the presidency race.
The FPM leader has been blamed by March 14 parties and foreign powers for posing a major hurdle toward the election of a new president with his insistence on seeking the presidency.
Aoun’s meeting with Berri came two days before Parliament is slated to meet to choose a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25. However, Wednesday’s session, the 20th attempt since April, is doomed to fail like previous ones over a lack of quorum. Lawmakers from Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc and Hezbollah’s bloc and its March 8 allies have thwarted a quorum with their consistent boycott of Parliament sessions, demanding an agreement beforehand with their March 14 rivals over a consensus presidency candidate.
Meanwhile, parliamentary sources close to Aoun quoted him as saying that he no longer saw seriousness in the dialogue between the FPM and the LF which has been going on for weeks between the FPM’s MP Ibrahim Kanaan and Milhem Riashi, chief of the LF communications and media department.
The two men have been working to prepare “a declaration of intent” that would set the stage for a meeting between Aoun and Geagea.
Kanaan told The Daily Star that he was still waiting for the LF’s response to the FPM’s remarks concerning the declaration of intent. Riashi said that matters are on the right track and the two parties’ decision to drop lawsuits against each other is irreversible.
However, parliamentary sources close to Aoun sounded pessimistic about an imminent breakthrough in ties between the two sides, or about holding a meeting between Aoun and Geagea.
“We are back to a wait-and-see situation,” the sources said, adding that if the dialogue between the two sides failed, Geagea would be held responsible for “undermining Christian ranks.”
The sources said Aoun was very pleased with a “cordial” meeting he held with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the latter’s residence in Downtown Beirut last month. Hariri hosted a dinner to celebrate Aoun’s 80th birthday.
Aoun, according to the sources, understands that the decision to support him for the presidency is still in some capitals.
The LF’s deputy leader MP George Adwan said it would be illogical for the LF to support Aoun, given his political alliance with Hezbollah.
Asked whether Geagea was ready to back Aoun for president, Adwan said in an interview published by An-Nahar newspaper Monday: “There is a substantial political dispute between us. The Lebanese Forces, which has struggled during all its history and in the past 10 years against the ‘memorandum of understanding’ between Aoun and Hezbollah, on what basis it will support him [for president]? This is illogical.”
However, the LF sought to play down Adwan’s remarks, saying it upheld the dialogue with the FPM and did not veto any presidential candidate.
“The LF attaches great importance to the ongoing dialogue between it and the FPM on all issues, including the presidency,” a statement issued by the LF’s media department said. “The LF does not put any veto on anyone and is working very hard for the election of a Lebanese president.”
Aoun at 80 fed up but will endure to the end
BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, who turned 80 last month, said he is frustrated by the political situation while acknowledging that he’s willing to endure anything to accomplish his goals, including becoming Lebanon's president.
“All my life I was afraid of becoming fed up, but I always remember that I should not,” Aoun said in an interview with local newspaper Al-Akhbar. “I have duties that are dictated by people's political choices and the size of supporters.”
“He who has the same [political] status as mine has to work and work and work until he is politically assassinated. When he is wiped out, it means he lost the battle,” the former Lebanese Army general said.
Aoun, however, admitted he has “reached a degree of frustration, but I take anti-nausea pills.”
In response to a question whether becoming a president was a primary goal, Aoun said: “Reaching [the presidential seat] is not the goal, but is the means to accomplish our goals.”
He vowed that if he were elected president he would activate the accountability system and judicial inspection.
“I am not like others. I have 25 MPs in Parliament. When I'm president no one will be able to obstruct. Everyone needs my signature.”
Jumblatt says to handover parliamentary seat to his son BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt confirmed Tuesday he will hand over his seat in Parliament to his eldest son, Taymour.
In remarks to local daily As-Safir, Jumblatt said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has promised he would hold by-elections in May after the Druze leader submits a letter of resignation to Parliament.
By-elections would take place in the Chouf and Jezzine (to fill the seat of the late MP Michel Helou) and possibly in Zghorta if Marada Movement leader Sleiman Frangieh decided to hand over the post to his son, Tony, according to Jumblatt.
The Druze leader also said he would give his testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in June, “but I will avoid a protracted testimony.”
As-Safir said Jumblatt appears resolute in maintaining his “disassociation” policy toward the March 14 coalition, saying the Future Movement-led alliance has no strategy.
“They have missed a historic opportunity to try to change the course of events [in their favor] after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, when the Maronite Church and Maronite leaders refused to oust then President Emile Lahoud,” he said.
“Later, March 14 became a reaction to the act, only to emerge without a political strategy.”
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