The Search for a Consensual Name: Michel Moawad’s Retraction and the Future of Lebanon’s Presidential Election

Danny Haddad wrote on mtv:

Today, June 4, will be a turning point in the course of the presidential election. At six o’clock this evening, Representative Michel Moawad announces two decisions: The first is his retraction from running for the presidential elections after he entered the candidates’ club with the support of the opposition forces. The second is the agreement between the opposition and some independent and change-making representatives and the Free Patriotic Movement to declare support for the candidacy of former minister Jihad Azour.

The pivot of history is not exclusively related to the press conference that Moawad will hold in the presence of representatives of the opposition and the “current”, which is the formula that was reached after a meeting held on Friday evening in the Phalangist central house and was followed by contacts yesterday, after the idea of ​​issuing simultaneous positions on the parliamentary blocs was raised. .
The most important thing about what will happen today is that it will constitute a launch for the search for a consensual name, especially since the surprise that occurred in the last hours was Hezbollah’s reaction to the consensus on Azour’s candidacy. It is a rejected nomination, so far, from the “party”, but read carefully what the head of the Political Council in Hezbollah, Mr. Hashem Safieddine, said yesterday.
Mr. Safieddine said: “There is no party alone capable of appointing a president to the republic in Lebanon, whoever this candidate is, regardless of his name, nature, affiliation, color, and political choices. Therefore, unless the parties agree with each other, we cannot achieve the presidential election.”
He asked, “Can a defiant president, whoever this president is, lead this country and advance it and find political and economic solutions in it, especially in light of the country’s crisis, exhausted, and crumbling situation?”
These words constitute an acknowledgment of the impossibility of electing the former minister, Suleiman Franjieh, as any other non-consensual candidate. So, starting today, Hezbollah opens the stage of searching for a consensual name, a task that could take months.

As for tomorrow, Monday, the round of consultations that Bishop Boulos Matar will start, carrying a mandate from Bkerke and a blessing from the Vatican, which recommended that he carry out this task. This tour will include Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah, where Matar will seriously raise the possibility of agreeing on a name that is satisfactory to him from the “duo” and enjoys broad Christian support. It is never an easy task.
MTV information indicates that a meeting was held away from the media in Bkerke between Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi and Franjieh, and it was a deep discussion about the presidential election, as Al-Rahi stopped at the quasi-Christian consensus on Azour, calling on the Marada leader to read this matter. Note that Franjieh, who left the meeting with a sullen face, confirmed to his associates that the Maronite Patriarch had told him, in response to a question, that he was not against it.
The sources denied that a meeting had taken place between the shepherd and Representative Gebran Bassil, as it was leaked, confirming that Basil had received the assistant of Patriarch Walid Ghayyad.

Accordingly, the coming days will witness a test for more than one issue: First, the strength of the agreement on Azour. Secondly, Berri and the “party” are open to searching for other names. Third, Bkerki’s success in the task of converging points of view in search of a president. Fourth, and it is decisive, what will be Franjieh’s position on the developments.