Lebanon: National Moderation Bloc Adamant to Ease Election of President

Speaker Nabih Berri meets with the National Moderation bloc on Saturday. (Parliament)

The National Moderation parliamentary bloc reiterated on Thursday that its initiative to help end the vacuum at the top state post and elect a new president are “ongoing” regardless of the obstacles the initiative is facing.
Meanwhile, ambassadors from the group of five countries (the Quintet committee) involved in the Lebanese issue are expected to resume their meetings with Lebanese officials starting next week.
Ambassadors of the Quintet (US, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar) are expected to meet with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai on Monday.
Hezbollah party, meanwhile, is adamant on backing its candidate, Marada party leader Sleiman Franjieh.
Lebanon has been without a president since October 2022 when the term of Michel Aoun ended without the election of a successor. Bickering between the political blocs over a suitable candidate has thwarted the polls.
Abou Faour
After a brief visit to Saudi Arabia last week, MP Wael Abou Faour of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc held talks with Berri.
In a statement on Tuesday, the MP said that ambassadors of the Quintet fully back the initiative of the National Moderation bloc.
He said the first thing the bloc agreed on was to sit for dialogue and to eliminate all the names of candidates that do not garner the approval of all parties.
The bloc has recently met with Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan.
MP Ahmed al-Kheir, the bloc’s spokesperson said: “The backing we got from the Mufti, the Quintet, Maronite Patriarch and the Maronite Bishops all affirm that the initiative is still going”.
The National Moderation bloc has proposed holding a consultative session at parliament with the aim of agreeing on a presidential candidate and securing the needed two-thirds quorum at parliament at successive elections sessions that would be called for by Berri. The speaker would in turn vow to the bloc to call for the elections.
The bloc has been holding a series of meetings with other blocs to reach an agreement on the mechanism to launch the dialogue, focusing on who will make the invitation for the talks and who will moderate them. The bloc has also demanded that the participants not make any preconditions over the dialogue.