Mohammad Raad, head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc. (Credit: Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah)
BEIRUT — The head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, Mohammad Raad, Saturday called on his party's opponents to put forward a candidate for dialogue, in order to break the deadlock in the presidential election process, assuring them that his bloc does not want to "impose a president on anyone." The country has been experiencing a presidential vacuum since Michel Aoun's mandate expired in October 2022.
"We don't want to impose a president on anyone. If you like [our candidate], vote for him. If not, dialogue with us," said Raad, speaking at a partisan rally in southern Lebanon. "We will not accept any preconditions for dialogue. Present your candidate and let's discuss. But we will not accept you telling the media that you refuse to let the national tandem [Amal and Hezbollah] impose its candidate on you."
Twelve electoral sessions devoted to the election of a president have failed due to a lack of political consensus. Hezbollah has called for dialogue, but only around its candidate, the leader of the Marada Movement Sleiman Frangieh. These calls were rejected by opposition and Forces of Change MPs, who united around the candidacy of former minister and senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official Jihad Azour.
The 12th parliamentary session devoted to the presidential election, held June 14, was inconclusive with Azour receiving 59 votes while Frangieh garnered 51 votes.
Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri, has not set a date for the next meeting.
"Betting on pressure from international forces to drop our candidate in favor of another who doesn't convince us will lead nowhere," Raad said. "We are open to dialogue. Tell us why you don't like our candidate, and we'll tell you why we don't like yours. We need to discuss the needs of the current phase, to convince you that our choice is better than yours."
In an attempt to put an end to the presidential vacancy, France's special envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, toured Beirut last week and held talks with several political leaders and officials, calling for a president to be elected without further delay.