French presidential envoy to Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian kicked off a Tuesday a new visit to the country in the hopes of achieving a breakthrough in the impasse over the presidential elections.
He started his three-day trip by meeting parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who described the talks as good.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that Le Drian briefed him on the talks that were held by the quintet on Lebanon in Doha.
Berri said a breakthrough in the deadlock has been reached, but declined to offer more details about his optimism.
He explained that it was not appropriate for him or others to speak in detail at the moment since Le Drian hasn’t completed his meetings with Lebanese officials.
French diplomatic sources were more cautious, warning against “excessive optimism”. They told Asharq Al-Awsat that the conditions were “constructive”, denying that the envoy had proposed a new initiative to end the crisis.
Lebanon has been without a president since October when the term of Michel Aoun ended. Ongoing political squabbling has led to the current vacuum. Numerous presidential elections sessions have been held, but no candidate managed to secure enough votes to be declared a winner.
Le Drian also met on Tuesday with head of the Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel and head of the Progressive Socialist Party MP Taymour Jumblatt.
He is scheduled to meet with several officials and party leaders whom he had met on his previous visit to Lebanon around a month ago.
Since then, the quintet had met in the Qatari capital, calling on Lebanon to intensify efforts to elect a president, who would unite the country and prioritize its interests and carry out crucial economic reforms.
Meanwhile, the “Shiite duo” of Hezbollah and Berri’s Amal Movement have continued to slam “foreign meddling” in Lebanon, most notably in wake of the quintet talks, which were seen as dealing a blow to the French initiative that backed the presidential nomination of Marada movement leader Suleiman Franjieh. The duo also backs his candidacy.
The quintet also rejected the call for dialogue made by the duo, saying it would not be productive at this time.
Hezbollah MP Hussein al-Hajj Hassan said on Tuesday that no progress has been made over the presidential elections.
“Are you still expecting someone from abroad to come up with a solution that the Lebanese can reach among themselves through understanding?” he asked.
Head of Berri’s Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc MP Hani Kobeisy expressed his rejection of “foreign decisions”, adding: “We will reject foreign sanctions that will starve our people. We will not accept a quintet or sextet that holds dialogue instead of us and wants to impose its decisions on us.”
“We have always called for dialogue and continue to do so in spite of the rejection expressed by some parties,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said: “Along with its allies, the LF is waging the battle of reclaiming the republic from its kidnappers, by preventing the ‘resistance axis’ from controlling the presidency.”
“We know we have a long road ahead of us in liberating Lebanon from its kidnappers and restoring its state institutions, but we are determined to forge ahead without hesitation until the Lebanese people achieve their goals of a dignified life in a prosperous and sovereign nation where rule of law prevails,” he added.
