Officials involved in the negotiations on the presidential deadlock have discussed several options, including a deal on a compromise Maronite candidate, to resolve the crisis, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The daily said that the officials could demand Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi to pressure the current candidates to withdraw their nominations.
Full StorySpeaker Nabih Berri has stressed that he would call for a parliamentary session to elect a new head of state as soon as the rival parties strike a deal to resolve the deadlock, saying Lebanon is currently adopting a “wait-and-see” approach.
Berri told officials who visited him over the weekend that he would set a date for a session the minute there is an agreement among the different parliamentary blocs.
Full StoryLebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea has accused his rival Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun of deceiving the public and creating a media stir to win the backing of the rival Lebanese parties for the country's top Christian post.
“Aoun hasn't proposed a serious initiative. He made a media stir to pressure the Lebanese parties into electing him a president,” Geagea told al-Joumhouria daily in an interview published on Friday.
Full StoryLawmakers failed in the eighth consecutive round on Wednesday to elect a new head of state, widening the country's political crisis and threatening the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Speaker Nabih Berri set a new session for July 23 after the legislative session on the election of a president was marred by lack of quorum caused by a large number of boycotting MPs.
Full StoryHizbullah is mulling its stance from the initiative that its ally Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun proposed recently, as March 8 coalition considers that it's impossible to carry out any constitutional amendment amid the ongoing presidential vacancy.
Sources close to Hizbullah told al-Liwaa newspaper published on Wednesday that the party will discuss Aoun's proposal before taking a final stance.
Full StoryThe International Support Group for Lebanon reiterated on Tuesday its commitment to provide assistance to Lebanon, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly said.
“ISG members ... expressed strong solidarity with Lebanon in the light of the terrorist threat, and congratulated the prime minister on the recent successes of the security forces,” said Plumbly after he attended a meeting chaired by PM Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.
Full StoryBkirki is engaged in a battle to elect a new head of state only and rejects to interfere in details that impede the poll as the Maronite Patriarch is holding onto his decision that all matters should be postponed until the parliament selects a president.
A source close to Bkirki refused to comment on Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun's proposal.
Full StorySpeaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the parliamentary elections should take place as scheduled even if a new president was not elected and MPs failed to agree on a new electoral law.
He was quoted on Monday as saying that he rejects attempts to renew parliament’s four-year mandate, which was extended last year to November 20, 2014.
Full StoryMustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri and United States Secretary of State John Kerry stressed during their meeting on Thursday the need to elect a new president for Lebanon as soon as possible.
As Safir newspaper reported on Saturday that the talks “may produce a new international dynamic to deal with the presidential elections.”
Full StoryGrand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani called on Friday for ending the vacuum at the presidential palace to stop further security chaos.
This "is an unnatural phenomenon, which should be stopped,” Qabbani said in his Ramadan message.
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