Beirut: A few days after Future Movement leader and former prime minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah chairman Hassan Nasrallah appeared to indirectly anoint Sulaiman Franjieh as the most likely candidate for the presidency in Lebanon, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader, General Michel Aoun, informed his March 8 alliance allies that he rejected the Marada official for the post.

Aoun, who remained the official March 8 contender, apparently informed his Lebanese Forces counterpart, Samir Geagea, of his position, according to Al Nahar daily. Speaking to RT on Monday, Aoun announced that while it was up to the March 8 coalition to pick its candidate, he wanted to remind everyone that he was the nominee until further notice. This was a response to Franjieh, who met with the FPM’s newly anointed chief Jibran Bassil, who is the Foreign Minister and also Aoun’s son-in-law, when the prospector declared that while he “maintained his support for General Aoun,” he was ready “to take another stance” if Aoun aimed at blocking his bid.

In the event, and while Aoun said that he was not officially informed of any accord that may have been reached between Hariri and Franjieh, he nevertheless added: “Why should Sulaiman Franjieh’s nomination come from Saad Hariri?”

Asked about a possible settlement involving a March 8 president and a March 14 premier, Aoun described such a scenario as a “fair solution,” though he stressed that “each camp must choose its own president”.

The FPM cancelled its weekly parliamentary meeting on Tuesday without giving the reason though commentators speculated that high levels contacts were underway to defuse lingering tensions over Franjieh’s putative nomination.

In less than a week, the three leading Christian parties, the FPM, the Lebanese Forces and the Phalange, all insisted that the nomination could only go forward if Franjieh distanced himself from Syria. Observers were taken aback by Aoun’s vociferous rejection, however, since the Marada were part of the March 8 coalition and, presumably, allied with the General. By informing Hezbollah, which refrained from commenting publicly on Franjieh’s presidential bid so far, Aoun took a calculated risk that could in time highlight whether his current obduracy would alter his ties with the Shiite party.

Meanwhile, senior Future Movement officials seemed to be going through a crisis too, as several leading Sunni politicians refused to bow to Hariri’s diktats. Minister of Justice Ashraf Riffi and deputy Ahmad Fatfat, two prominent Sunni representatives, voiced their disappointment with Hariri for contemplating a deal with a pro-Syrian contender. It was unclear whether Future Movement ranks would remain intact or whether dissidents would distance themselves from the declared March 14 platform.

The Franjieh nomination was bound to dominate the 22nd national dialogue session although Aoun’s latest position may well derail prospects for a rapid resolution. Lebanon has been without a president since May 24, 2014, when Michel Sulaiman ended his six-year term. Whether Hariri’s initiative will break the 18-month-long deadlock was unclear.