The head of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) and the opposition officially endorsed former Finance Minister Jihad Azour for Lebanon's presidency Sunday.
The opposition's presidential candidate, Michel Moawad, along with Forces of Change MPs and independent MPs, formally announced at a Sunday press conference their support for Azour, who serves as the head of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund.
Moawad also announced the withdrawal of his presidential candidacy, saying, "I decided to participate in reaching this intersection that led to the candidacy of Jihad Azour, and we will continue our battle without getting tired."
The endorsement followed a formal announcement by the head of the FPM Gebran Bassil on Saturday evening of his party's support for Azour as its preferred candidate, saying the FPM will vote for Azour "instead of casting a blank ballot," the state-run National News Agency reported.
Azour has for several days been repeatedly mentioned as the opposition camp's candidate of choice, in agreement with the FPM. These blocs' backing of Azour is aimed at blocking the road to Baabda for Marada leader Sleiman Frangieh, who is supported by Amal and Hezbollah.
The country has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31.
'Azour has the ability to garner 65 votes'
"We cannot remain idle, and the only option has become to expand the area of intersections, which led to the candidate Jihad Azour and secured him an almost Christian consensus, even if he is not our preferred candidate," Moawad said. "He is an acceptable candidate and is able to protect Lebanon from further collapse and domination."
The announcement on Sunday came on behalf of 32 MPs, "provided that other blocs announce their position in the coming days," Forces of Change MP Mark Daou said during the press conference.
"As a result of intensive contacts, we came to the name of Jihad Azour as a non-provocative middle name for any team in the country that blocs agree on, including "Strong Lebanon," the FPM's parliamentary bloc, Daou said.
"Jihad Azour has the ability to garner 65 votes in the next presidential election session," Daou claimed. This is the number of votes needed for a candidate to achieve a simple majority and be elected in a second-round vote in Parliament.
MP Michel Moawad withdraws his candidacy and announces the opposition's endorsement of Jihad Azour for Lebanon's presidency, June 4, 2023. (Press conference snapshot)
Reading the opposition MPs' statement, Daou said, "Our hand is extended to meet with Hezbollah, the Amal Movement and their remaining allies, and at the same time we are ready to face all attempts to obstruct."
"We call on the rest of our fellow MPs, especially the speaker of Parliament, to call for the immediate election of a president for the republic in successive sessions," he continued.
"Candidate Jihad Azour is not the only opposition candidate, nor is he an exclusive candidate for any of the blocs. The opposition chooses to run the presidential battle in his name," Daou said, quoting the opposition statement.
'Among other names'
On Saturday night, Bassil said, "The FPM converged with other parliamentary blocs on the name of Jihad Azour as a presidential candidate, among other names that the current considered appropriate and not provocative, and gave its approval and no objection to its ascension."
"The intersection over more than one name gives more flexibility and constitutes a positive and important development, so no one accuses the FPM of obstruction," Bassil added at a party dinner in Jbeil, north of Beirut, in the presence of former President Michel Aoun.
Bassil added that the "consensus on the name of a candidate and the agreement of the main blocs to support him and give him the necessary representation can compensate for the lack of access to those who have the capacity of Christian representation," revealing that "in the event of a call for an election session, the FPM will vote for the name that was agreed upon instead of casting a blank ballot."
'The blank ballot as an expression of lack of effort'
"The blank ballot no longer serves its purpose, but has become an expression of inability or lack of effort to fill the void," he added.
Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday indicated that Azour could obtain "more than 65 votes if the FPM maintains its position."
When Geagea was asked by the pro-Hezbollah daily al-Akhbar on Wednesday how the support for Azour came about, the LF leader indicated that credit should go to Frangieh. "The moumanaa axis [the pro-Iranian axis in Lebanon] has gone far this time and united those who could not be united," he said. For the LF leader, Azour is a "neutral compromise candidate, not a defiant one."
Bassil on Sunday stressed that his party's concern "is to unlock the presidential vacuum and [to ensure] the ascension of a president who fits the phase, so he will have the support of the FPM to succeed without being the FPM's candidate, so the [party] does not bear the burden of his mistakes if he fails."
"The presidential candidate will not resemble the FPM because he is not from it, but we can come to terms with him and converge with him and not be ashamed of supporting him," Bassil added.
He also said, "The current phase does not allow the arrival of a president from the FPM, and even if he arrives under the shadow of the current regime and the controlling system, he will not succeed. The current external and internal equations will not allow a president from the FPM to achieve more than what President Michel Aoun achieved. For this reason, I did not present myself as a candidate."
'Confrontation candidate'
Meanwhile, Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah said Sunday that Azour is a "confrontation and challenge candidate," who "will not make it" to the presidency. Fadlallah added that Hezbollah "will prevent them [the parties opposed to it] from achieving their goals."
"There is no hope for them and their new candidate in their open game, as it is part of their political battle in which they are trying to gain strength from abroad," the Hezbollah MP said. "We will prevent them from achieving their goals, and they will not be able to impose their candidate on the rest of the Lebanese, neither constitutionally nor politically, nor through the media."