Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berry, in Ain al-Tineh, Oct. 2, 2024. (Photo provided by Berri's press office)
“In form, it wasn’t very successful. But the important thing is the substance,” said Kataeb leader Sami Gemayel on Thursday, summing up the mood of the Christian parties in the wake of the statement issued Wednesday evening by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Druze leader Walid Joumblatt. The statement called for an immediate cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel and the swift election of a new president.
It was therefore enough for the Shiite parliament speaker to turn to the Sunni prime minister and his Druze partner for the process, which kick-started earlier this week in a bid to achieve a breakthrough in the ongoing war and the presidential election, to cause stir and face up limitations.
But everyone, including Christians, agreed that the situation is so serious that this is not the right time to engage in futile quarrels. The guns need to be silenced and the presidential void filled, a process in which all are involved under Berri’s leadership.
It all began on Wednesday evening when Joumblatt called on Mikati to speak with him. Mikati then proposed a meeting at Ain al-Tineh in the presence of Berri, a source close to the Grand Serail told L’Orient-Le Jour.
At the end of the meeting, Mikati read out the statement that reiterated Lebanon’s support for the cease-fire project launched by several countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s meetings last week. The three leaders also renewed “the Lebanese government’s commitment to implement Security Council Resolution 1701 (which put an end to the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel) and to deploy the army in the south of the Litani River.”
Berri, Mikati and Joumblatt also called on their “Lebanese partners” to “take the road toward understanding and show responsibility by electing a president capable of calming everyone’s apprehensions.” “We call on all parties to take advantage of the dynamic initiated through the Berri-led contacts for such an agreement to take place,” they said.
A source close to the Grand Serail told L’Orient-Le Jour, “This statement was drafted spontaneously during the tripartite meeting, whose holding was decided coincidentally.” These remarks came in reaction to the accusations of “marginalization” that several Christian actors had leveled following the meeting.
Opposition MP Michel Moawad even described the meeting as “a sin that doesn’t go in line with the national pact,” he wrote on X. Former MP for the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) Eddy Maalouf, wrote on X that “the absence of Christians is unacceptable.” He recalled that “Christians are full partners in this country.”
Mikati and Abu Faour seek reconciliation
But what is the real reason behind the absence of a Christian representative? Several sources consistently told L’Orient-Le Jour that Berri, Mikati and Joumblatt wanted to include Christians in the process “but they were unable to find a figure who could be unanimous,” according to a source close to Berri, echoing the stance of Wael Abu Faour, MP for the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP).
After a meeting with Gemayel, he justified the absence of Christians from the Ain al-Tineh meeting by what he called “excessive pluralism” among Christians, unlike the others. This is because Berri is today the official representative of the Shiites in the political arena, while Mikati is the highest-ranking Sunni official. As for Joumblatt, his party, namely the PSP, monopolizes (or almost monopolizes) Druze representation.
In any case, Abu Faour met with Gemayel as part of his visit to Christian leaders to inform them of the discussions that began on Wednesday in Ain al-Tineh. Moreover, Mikati visited Bkirki on Thursday evening, meeting with Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai.
The presidential election
In Bikfaya, Abu Faour said that “no one intends to marginalize anyone.” Gemayel welcomed the fact that this would be “the first time that the Lebanon front (which Hezbollah opened in support of Hamas) has been untied from the war in Gaza.” In their statement, the three leaders called for an immediate cease-fire, without linking it to the cessation of hostilities in Gaza, as Hezbollah advocates.
Gemayel called on Berri to “convince Hezbollah to adhere to Wednesday’s statement, particularly regarding the deployment of the army across the country.”
Commenting on the presidential election, Gemayel said that in the next phase, “it will be forbidden for anyone to lead us into wars or crises like the ones we are experiencing today.”
“No component of the Lebanese fabric should feel marginalized and defeated,” he said. This was Gemayel’s way of showing openness to the election of a consensus figure as head of state.
This last point was raised during Thursday’s meeting in Maarab between Abu Faour and Lebanese Forces (LF) Leader Samir Geagea. L’Orient-Le Jour learned that the latter “did not raise” the issue of the absence of Christians from Wednesday’s tripartite meeting.
“We discussed the importance of electing a president, in view of the latest developments at this level,” said Abu Faour after his meeting with Geagea, stressing “Berri’s flexibility, who no longer insists on the conditions he had imposed in the past.” This came in reference to the step backward Berri took earlier this week when he said he was ready to convene the MPs for an open electoral session with successive rounds of voting to elect a consensus figure, without conditioning it on a dialogue beforehand. AbuFaour’s remarks came on the heels of Joumblatt’s call on “the LF and others” to meet the three leaders halfway.
This call resonated with the LF, who reiterated in a press release their readiness to take part in any parliamentary session dedicated to the presidential election.
But we’re not there yet. Before taking action, Berri is awaiting the outcome of ongoing contacts in search of a broader agreement. In parallel with his talks with the various actors, FPM leader Gebran Bassil delegated MP Georges Atallah to visit his LF colleague MP Fadi Karam. As for FPM MP Nicolas Sehnaoui, he recently met his colleague Tony Frangieh, MP for the Marada Movement, whose father Sleiman was until recently the presidential candidate that Amal and Hezbollah endorsed and a rival of Bassil.
What about Hezbollah? An official cited by Reuters on Wednesday said that the party had entrusted the presidential dossier to Berri. Hezbollah’s circles did not confirm this information.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. It was translated by Joelle El-Khoury.