MP Nehmat Frem announcing his candidacy for the presidential election, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (Credit: NNA)
MP Nehmat Frem (independent) officially announced his candidacy for the presidency on Thursday, stressing his "commitment to the implementation of the cease-fire agreement, of all United Nations resolution 1701 and other resolutions on Lebanon, to ensure the stability" of the country.
"I announce my candidacy for the presidency, and I am ready to assume this national responsibility," Frem said at a press conference at the headquarters of his political movement "the project of the nation of man" in Keserwan, where he is a member of parliament. Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri called an electoral session for Jan. 9, after more than a year in which Lebanese parliamentary forces did not meet for this purpose. Lebanon has been without a head of state since the end of Michel Aoun's term in October 2022.
The cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, which ended hostilities lasting more than a year and a two-month open war, came into effect on Nov. 27.
"I am thereby committed to forming a government whose mission will be to implement Resolution 1701 and to limit the carrying of weapons to the hands of official institutions only while improving the trust placed in them," added Frem.
Resolution 1701, passed in 2006 to end a previous war between Israel and Hezbollah, stipulates, among other things, that the party cannot keep its weapons and military infrastructure south of the Litani River, therefore on the border with Israel.
In the Lebanese political tradition, it is rare for candidates to announce their candidacy for the presidential election themselves, however, Frem considered that "given the circumstances and after a month so rich in developments that will lead to an electoral meeting, I felt that I had to announce my candidacy officially."
During his press conference, Frem spoke about his electoral program, which he called a comprehensive rescue and reform program, which he said involved a full implementation of the Taif Agreement that ended the civil war (1975-1990). It also proposes launching a reconstruction plan, ensuring adequate social protection, preparing for economic and financial recovery, preserving the independence of the judiciary, restructuring the administration, addressing the issue of displaced Syrians, adopting a modern electoral law and undertaking comprehensive reforms.
The former FPM MPs
Other names of candidates are circulating in political circles, in the run-up to the Jan. 9 meeting. L'Orient-Le Jour learned on Wednesday that names of candidates had been mentioned during meetings of ex-FPM MPs – Elias Bou Saab, Alain Aoun, Simon Abi Ramia and Ibrahim Kanaan – with Kataeb and the Lebanese Forces, where the names of Ibrahim Kanaan and Nehmat Frem, both members of their independent parliamentary bloc, were put forward.
As for the commander of the army, General Joseph Aoun, seen as a serious option for agreement, Kataeb "simply asked the question to their hosts, the head of the military institution not being their official candidate," confided one of the personalities present at the meeting. Despite the bad relations between Elias Bou Saab and Joseph Aoun, the group would not hinder a broader agreement around his election, stated one of the ex-FPM parliamentarians under cover of anonymity.