Dubai: Sa’ad Hariri, a leading member of Lebanon’s political elite and son of slain Lebanese leader Rafik Hariri, declared his backing of Michel Aoun for Lebanese president on Thursday.
His much-anticipated speech was the subject of broad media speculation for the past two weeks as Lebanon struggles to elect a president amid a 2 ½ year vacuum.
In his speech, Hariri said Lebanon must be protected and isolated from the Syrian crisis which has been a chief reason for Lebanon’s political vacuum.
The deal reached between Hariri and Aoun, a political ally of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, would see Hariri becoming prime minister for the second time.
It was not immediately clear if Aoun’s candidacy would enjoy enough support among other Lebanese politicians to secure the necessary two-thirds quorum for the vote in the 128-seat parliament.
The next scheduled parliamentary session to elect a president is set for October 31.
Opponents of Aoun’s candidacy include the influential Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is head of the Shiite Amal Movement and a close ally of Hezbollah.
Hezbollah itself has yet to comment, although Aoun is their official candidate.
But, it is Hezbollah, in fact, that is blocking Aoun’s election, as it refuses to attend parliament sessions.
Observers say the reason is that Damascus prefers a weak state with no president at all.
Unthinkable proposal
The proposal, unthinkable until recently, casts new light on the predicament facing Hariri, whose standing as Lebanon’s most influential Sunni politician has been shaken by a financial crisis at his Saudi-based construction business.
The troubles at Saudi Oger, which has been hit by falling oil prices and subsequent cuts in Saudi state spending, have rippled through Lebanon, leading to layoffs in Hariri’s Future Movement.
Diplomats say Hariri has fallen from favour in Saudi Arabia, which these days cares far more about confronting Iranian influence in the Gulf and Syria than Lebanon.
Hariri, 46, led the anti-Syrian March 14 alliance against Hezbollah and its allies, after the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, in 2005.
He became prime minister in 2009, but his cabinet was toppled in 2011 when Hezbollah and its allies resigned.
Aoun heads the largest Christian bloc in the parliament elected in 2009, the last time Lebanese voted. He has been a political ally of Hezbollah since 2006.
Aoun was army commander and led one of two rival governments during the final years of the Lebanese civil war until the Syrian army forced him from the presidential palace and into exile.
He returned to the country in 2005 after Syrian forces withdrew under international pressure following the Hariri assassination.
