Beirut: Although Walid Junblatt denied that he would meet the Phalange Party chief and former President of the Republic, Ameen Gemayel, along with the Future Movement’s leader, former Prime Minister Sa‘ad Hariri in Paris this weekend, the pro-March 14 daily Al Jumhuriyyah claimed that a tripartite powwow was scheduled in the French capital to sort out differences and settle on a new formula to elect a head-of-state.
Observers speculated that the three men wished to make a deal and break the current political jam between the putative March 8 candidate, General Michel Aoun, and the March 14 nominee, Samir Geagea.
While the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader prevented either aspirant from reaching the Baabda Palace when he introduced the blocking candidacy of Michel Helou, internal and regional conditions necessitated that Lebanese politicians alter their stratagems, at least to terminate the existing stalemate and distance the country from additional troubles.
Gemayel and Junblatt met earlier in the former’s summer residence in Bickfaya and informed Hariri of their evolving ideas. Both men wished to coordinate in person with the former prime minister, whose bloc enjoyed a slim majority in parliament, though Junblatt’s PSP held critical swing votes.
According to press reports, Hariri was expected at the Élysée Palace to meet French President François Hollande on Tuesday, which further increased speculation that the three Lebanese politicians planned to coordinate as they sought a breakthrough — including the option of electing Gemayel — to end the presidential impasse.
A PSP spokesperson declared that Junblatt was in Paris on a private trip with “no political meetings on his agenda”, insisting that press reports alleging the contrary were “fabricated”, and that the contentions were circulated by parties with “abundant imagination” and “private intentions” backed by media outlets “which pretend to be accurate”.
Junblatt may have been asked by Hollande to visit following the PSP leader’s most recent contacts with Aoun and, earlier, with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. In fact, a PSP spokesman went so far as to deny on Friday that Junblatt was secretly pushing the Aoun candidacy that, if accurate, may indicate that he switched allegiances.
“The Democratic Gathering bloc headed by Junblatt holds on to its presidential candidate Henry Helou,” PSP spokesperson Rami Rayyes said in remarks published on Friday. Notwithstanding the denial, Junblatt was caught in his own web that sabotaged the April 23 elections and the 13 sessions that followed, with the country now deeply immersed in serious political, economic, and security crises.
Al Jumhuriyyah further reported that Junblatt recommended all sides to accept Aoun as a consensus candidate for two years, instead of the constitutionally required six-year term, during which time parliamentary elections would be held, although Geagea and others categorically rejected this option. It was within such a context that Hollande may well have opted to summon the three men for a final push before the technical prolongation of parliament’s mandate next November.
In the meantime, French media sources revealed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia sought assurances that Hezbollah would not benefit from the $3 billion (Dh11.02 billion) arms pledge inked with France last December to bolster the Lebanese Army, and that Riyadh wished to see a president duly elected before it disbursed allocated sums. For his part, the Lebanese Minister of Defence, Samir Moqbel, was set to visit Tehran within the coming 10 days to see whether the recent Iranian donation for “equipment that would help the Army in its heroic confrontations against evil terrorism” was any different from previous offers.
