The political crisis in Lebanon intensified by the seven-month presidential vacuum is deepening since some parties have insisted on approaching the presidency issue on the basis of the private interests away from the national considerations.
Except the national duo-Hezbollah and Amal Movement, most of the political parties have persisted on vague nominations for the presidential elections due since August 31, 2023 (60 days before the end of the presidential term of the former President Michel Aoun).
Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem indicated, in a tweet posted on May 29, 2023, that supporting Head of Marada Movement Sleiman Franjiyeh for presidency was based on a considerable number of votes he has secured, adding that those who reject him cannot agree on one candidate due to their contradictory programs.
On the other hand, a number of parliamentary blocs, including the Lebanese Forces, Kataeb, Free Patriotic Movement and the so-called the independent deputies, decided to propose a candidate in face of Franjiyeh without any clear criteria.
To begin with, the above-mentioned blocs do not have in common any unified political program that identifies their future decisions. In other words, any nomination they jointly propose is not based on a conspicuous political path.
Moreover, many of those blocs and individual deputies have alleged that the new president has to be a reformist who has not been involved in the state corruption. Others have also claimed that they may never support a candidate who is at odds with the Resistance.
Out of no where, all those blocs and lawmakers decided to nominate the former minister of finance Jihad Azour.
Jihad Azour is the Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund where he oversees the Fund’s work in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Caucasus.
Azour served as Lebanon’s Finance Minister in 2005-08, during which time he coordinated the implementation of important reforms, including modernizing the country’s tax and customs systems.
Any political observer who might study this political case can never reach a clear formula followed by the parliamentary blocs which decided to support Azour.
Azour was the finance minister of the PM Fuad Siniora government accused by a large segment of the Lebanese people of being responsible for the socioeconomic woes the country has reached.
Azour was in office during the most critical stages during which an Lebanon face an Israeli war and his government performed “poorly” in the confrontation. Moreover, he was a member of the cabinet which continued to convene despite the resignation of all the Shia ministers (constitutionally rejected).
Thus, Azour is neither politically adequate because he does not represent the personality capable of confronting the foreign pressures pertaining the Resistance weaponry, nor economically functional as he belongs to a team accused of being responsible for a considerable part of the crisis.
In this regard, Sheikh Qassem had also said that some parliamentary blocs choose candidates who serve their private interests or suit the foreign scheme in Lebanon regardless of their programs, adding that Hezbollah has nominated Franjiyeh due to his clear program based on a long political experience.
The political life in Lebanon, thus, is stalling in wait for stones to be thrown into the still waters of the presidential deadlock.
According to many political estimations, Azour will not gain votes more than those used to be secured by MP Michel Moawwad in the context of maneuvers that tamper with the national stability.
Head of Loyalty to Resistance bloc, Hajj Mohammad Raad, stressed that the nominations being circulated are just maneuvers that will just elongate the presidential crisis.
The chaotic scene of the nominations proposed by some parties can never be arranged without a holding a national dialogue aimed at identifying the criteria of the required candidate expected to cope with the various crises of the nation.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
