Le Drian’s visit: The opposition puts Berri to the test

A Western diplomat summed to L’Orient-Le Jour former French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian’s 5th visit to Beirut to help break the deadlock in the presidential election. The source said, “Let's be realistic. There won’t be a significant breakthrough tomorrow. But that doesn’t mean French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian’s visit to Beirut was pointless.”

The diplomat believes that Le Drian managed to score a point. He convinced Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who conditioned convening a conclave on a week-long “dialogue,” to make do with the terms “consultations or negotiations” that would pave the way for the election of a president.

This “small step backward,” — in terms of semantics, as Berri still insists on convening and chairing these discussions himself — is supposed to reassure the opposition, which categorically rejects dialogue.

But this seems inadequate. To move forward, the anti-Hezbollah camp demanded that Berri take action, not only by consenting to “consultations,” but by committing to convene an open electoral session, whatever the outcome of the process.

These concerns were raised on Wednesday, at Le Drian’s meeting with several opposition MPs at the Résidence des Pins.

According to one of these MPs, the opposition MPs reiterated their rejection of any “institutionalization of unconstitutional practices” including an expanded dialogue table, opting for “consultations limited” in time and space, as recommended by the Quintet.

The MP referred to the May 16 statement the ambassadors of the five countries involved in the Lebanese dossier (US, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Qatar) issued.

“We insisted above all on the importance of obtaining guarantees that a single electoral session would be held with successive rounds of voting, whatever the outcome of the consultations,” said the parliamentary source.

“Le Drian said this is what Berri implied by agreeing to ‘the consultations.’ But that’s not enough. We have told him we need a solemn and unequivocal commitment,” the source added.

Geagea and Gemayel challenge the tandem

Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea said after he met with the French diplomat in Maarab on Wednesday evening, “Le Drian said that Nabih Berri is willing to adopt a positive attitude. If this is the case, let him convene an electoral session. And the consultations could then be held within the framework of this meeting.” He deemed it “illogical and unacceptable” to hold a dialogue or consultations before the official (electoral) sessions.

The same goes for the Kataeb. In an interview with the state-owned Télé-Liban TV channel, on Wednesday evening, Kataeb Leader Sami Gemayel aimed his arrows at Berri and Hezbollah. “We don’t care about the form [consultations or dialogue]. The real question is: Are they [the Hezbollah-led camp] ready to discuss a third-way figure? I don’t think Hezbollah is willing to do that at the moment. But we’re putting them to the test,” he said.

With these remarks, Gemayel, MP for Metn, clearly put the ball back in the court of the Shiite tandem, which is clinging to Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy and postponing any debate on the issue until declaring a cease-fire in Gaza.

Indeed, the Marada movement leader is increasingly determined to stay in the race, confident of the Shiite tandem’s invaluable support. He reiterated this to the French diplomat on Tuesday.

The talk of a “dialogue” to break the deadlock in the presidential elections continues within Ain al-Tineh’s circles. “During the Berri-Le Drian meeting, neither the withdrawal of Frangieh nor opting for a third-party figure was mentioned,” Amal MP Qassem Hashem told the local MTV channel on Thursday. “The solution lies in dialogue,” he said.

This implies that Berri and those close to him share roles, giving the impression that we’re back to square one.

But there’s no room for complacency in diplomatic circles. “Nabih Berri is a statesman, and we believe him when he makes commitments,” said the Western diplomat.

While waiting for Berri to take action, the five nations group’s ambassadors could continue their contacts with political leaders on their own. Indeed, Hervé Magro met on Thursday with the Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil, who was abroad when Le Drian visited Beirut.

“We need to reiterate the urgency of electing a president,” said the Western diplomat, echoing Le Drian.

On Thursday, a French diplomatic source told AFP that Le Drian had left empty-handed, with each party “holding to its position.”

This article was originally published in L'Orient-Le Jour and translated by Joelle El Khoury.