Clovis Choueifaty wrote in the “Akhbar Al Youm” agency:
It seems that Hezbollah decided to start its offensive plan to impose Suleiman Franjieh as president of the republic, after it exhausted all the preliminary stages, including convincing close allies of its uncompromising choice, which is electing a “president who protects the back of the resistance.”
Hezbollah stopped the negotiation process with the leadership of the Free Patriotic Movement, and the speech of its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah on the day of the wounded was decisive in his presidential choice, and he fired a bullet to start the race and start a different path from what he was following in the previous months.
Hezbollah began to surround the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, and entered his house, luring some of his deputies to lead Suleiman Franjieh as president. It was remarkable what was reported that Representative Alain Aoun informed the head of his bloc that he had received a message from the Hezbollah leadership saying the following: “It is true that you are affiliated with the Free Patriotic Movement, and we have been allies for a long time, and we ask you today to understand the size and importance of the arrival of former Minister Suleiman Franjieh to the presidency… and to be on our side.”
This message shows that the process of imposing Franjieh as president took another dimension, and Hezbollah found itself forced to use all its cards, even if some of them constituted embarrassment for it and a change in the alliances and agreements that were established with the movement years ago, and it will put pressure on a number of representatives of the movement whose votes contributed to their access to Parliamentary seminar. Representative Alan Aoun arrived in the parliament in cooperation with Hezbollah in the Baabda region, and Salim Aoun arrived through a percentage of votes secured by Hezbollah in the Zahle region, and the party’s votes also contributed to the delivery of deputies Samer Al-Tom, Edgar Trabelsi and Charbel Maroun, and even some of the party’s supporters praise the movement for the arrival of Simon Abi Ramia and Nada Al-Bustani in Jbeil and Keserwan.
Activists in the Free Patriotic Movement have expressed their resentment and regret over the way that Hezbollah might follow with the movement’s deputies, including its message to the Baabda deputy, considering that it is using the method of the Syrian regime that Damascus adopted in Lebanon before 2005, with the difference that Syria was an occupied country and was being resisted, and the movement was not He recognizes everything that was resulting from its interference in the Lebanese authority…
The second point that Hezbollah may adopt in its offensive plan is to lavish ministerial promises, services and administrative appointments in the event of Franjieh’s arrival. Some of the change representatives and some Sunni deputies aspiring for a ministerial seat and services may accept them. These promises had been rejected by Gebran Bassil in exchange for Franjieh’s delivery.
It seems that the Saudi ambassador, Walid al-Bukhari, and the rest of the parties opposing Franjieh’s arrival sensed Hezbollah’s seriousness in imposing its candidate, so al-Bukhari moved towards the patriarchal edifice in Bkerke, and told his patriarch, the shepherd: “The kingdom is with a rescue president who is not involved in financial and political corruption issues.” That is, it is with a president from outside the system who participated in power for many years, and Minister Franjieh is one of those. Al-Bukhari made it clear that the Kingdom will not return to Lebanon as it was in its previous era, in the event of the arrival of a president who belongs to Hezbollah or is close to Hezbollah.
Will the Kingdom intervene to immunize the representatives of the Sunni community from the pressures or temptations of Hezbollah and re-include them under its wings? Will the party be able to penetrate the representatives of the movement and some of the two changes to secure the arrival of Franjieh? Knowing that President Nabih Berri will work to secure additional votes for Franjieh from the Socialist Party deputies, as his friend Walid Jumblatt is good at exploiting balances and positioning in fateful moments. Will Qaban Jumblatt’s egg be decisive in the presidential election, as it was previously in more than one station and merit?
