What are Le Drian's conditions to resume his presidential mission in Lebanon?
French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian would only return to Lebanon if Lebanese parties agree to discuss a third option, political sources said.
The sources revealed to al-Liwaa newspaper, in remarks published Thursday, that Le Drian wants the political parties to waive their conditions and counter-conditions, in order to break the presidential impasse.
If the Lebanese parties refuse to resort to a third candidate without conditions, Le Diran might suspend his mission.
While both Hezbollah and the opposition haven't vetoed the name of Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun, Hezbollah and its allies have long expressed their ongoing support to Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said he doesn't know what is Aoun's economic and political vision for the country.
The divided Parliament has failed for 12 times to elect a new president, with neither of the two main blocs -- Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the 86 votes required to elect one in a first round of voting.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri hasn't called for an electoral session since June 14. He instead called for a dialogue before going to "open-ended sessions to elect a president."
The opposition refused to engage in dialogue to agree on a head of state before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process.
Both sides have put forward their own candidate -- former minister Franjieh and economist Jihad Azour -- but Le Drian said last week that neither man had any chance of breaking the deadlock.
"Neither side can prevail. Neither solution can work," Le Drian said.
"It is important that political actors put an end to this unbearable crisis for the Lebanese and try to find a compromise solution through a third way," he added, as he warned that France and its allies the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt, are losing patience after almost a year of deadlock and are now reviewing their financial aid.
Source: Naharnet
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