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PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

FPM, Amal, independents and Hezbollah: Force of Change MPs continue their tour

FPM, Amal, independents and Hezbollah: Force of Change MPs continue their tour

Forces of Change MPs during a meeting with Nabih Berri's parliamentary group, on Sept. 13, 2022. (Photo credit: Hassan Ibrahim/Flickr/Lebanese Parliament)

BEIRUT — "Preventing any presidential vacancy" that some fear after the end of Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31; this was the leitmotiv of the Forces of Change parliamentary group during their tour with other MPs. After meeting with Tachnag and Kataeb MPs on Monday, Forces of Change MPs met on Tuesday with the Free Patriotic Movement bloc, the Renewal group and the Amal Movement. 

In the morning, Gebran Bassil and some Aounist MPs met at the headquarters of the FPM in Sin al-Fil, a suburb of Beirut, and in the afternoon, the 13 elected MPs met with independent MPs from the Renewal bloc and those from the movement of Nabih Berri, head of the Parliament and the Amal movement.

"It is necessary that we meet everyone despite the political disagreements, to prevent any presidential vacancy," said Forces of Change MP Michel Douaihy, after the meeting. "All political forces must assume their responsibilities in order to find a reformist president," he continued, in remarks reported by local media.

The news website tayyar.org, affiliated to FPM, said that Bassil received MPs Douaihy, Melhem Khalaf, Firas Hamdan, Yassine Yassine and Cynthia Zarazir, adding that all "agreed on the need to elect a president of the Republic, that the election should be purely Lebanese and nothing else, in order to avoid a presidential vacancy."

FPM MP George Atallah considered that "the initiative of the MPs of the protest is welcome," in reference to the program launched in early September by the 13 MPs to elect "a rescue president" capable of pulling the country out of chaos. It is this initiative that the protesters are presenting to the various parliamentary groups during their tour, which they began on Monday by meeting with the Tashnag and the Kataeb.

"The coming days will prove that honest people can cooperate with us because we have a common denominator: we refuse the presidential vacancy," he added.

The Forces of Change MPs met in the afternoon with those of the Renewal bloc, namely Michel Mouawad, Adib Abdel Massih, Ashraf Rifi and Fouad Makhzoumi. "Our goal is to achieve the election of a sovereign president, able to impose appropriate solutions to this crisis," said Makhzoumi after the meeting. For his part, Marc Daou called for the election to be held within the constitutional deadline. "We will continue this dialogue in order to strengthen the purely Lebanese character of the vote, in order to protect this country and its Constitution," Daou said.

The MPs then headed to Ain al-Tineh, where they met with members of the Development and Liberation bloc, affiliated with Nabih Berri's Amal Movement. "With this initiative we are reaching out to everyone, to elect a president who meets the criteria," said Beirut MP Paula Yacoubian after the meeting, which she described as "good and fruitful."

"We received the assurance that Speaker Berri will indeed convene a session to elect the president even if the reforms are not adopted," Yacoubian said, while Berri had set this as a precondition for convening the Parliament. "There is a reality that we constitute only 10 percent of the total members of Parliament. Either we give up and say we are waiting for the presidential vacancy, or we go to all the groups," Yacoubian added, recalling that her party wants to elect "a president who is outside the (traditional) political criteria."

For his part, Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil argued that "differences of opinion should not prevent dialogue, especially in the face of challenges and the current crisis." He also noted that there are still no names on the table, however, because "it is too early to talk about it."

"We have our opinion, our position: we express it even in case of disagreement," Berri added, recalling that he had defined the criteria of an ideal presidential candidate, namely someone who enjoys "Muslim, Christian and national acceptability." The president is traditionally Maronite.

MPs Mark Daou, Halimé El Kaakour, Firas Hamdan, Melhem Khalaf, Waddah Sadek, and Michel Douaihy then met with the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary group Mohammad Raad, along with two other MPs from the group. "The dialogue was very frank and we discussed the concept of sovereignty as well as the concept of weapons. We need a president who represents everyone, outside the traditional framework. Lebanon cannot tolerate a vacuum," said Kaakour.

BEIRUT — "Preventing any presidential vacancy" that some fear after the end of Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31; this was the leitmotiv of the Forces of Change parliamentary group during their tour with other MPs. After meeting with Tachnag and Kataeb MPs on Monday, Forces of Change MPs met on Tuesday with the Free Patriotic Movement bloc, the Renewal group and the Amal Movement. In the...