Hariri Meets Gemayel in Saifi

Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri held a meeting on Wednesday with Kataeb party leader Sami Gemayel at the Kataeb headquarters in al-Saifi.

The visit comes in the framework of consultations that Hariri said will wrap up to address the issue of electing a president after more than two years of vacuum at the top Christian position.

Kataeb deputy chief Salim al-Sayegh attended the meeting in addition to Politburo member Albert Kostanian and MP Samer Saadeh.

Hariri was accompanied by former minister and adviser Ghattas Khoury and adviser Hani Hammoud.

Media reports said that Hariri has told the members of his parliamentary bloc during a meeting on Tuesday that he might make the “bitter choice” of endorsing Free Patriotic Movement founder Aoun for the presidency as some Mustaqbal MPs described such a step as “suicidal.”

An official statement issued after the meeting had said that Hariri “informed the bloc that he has started consultations with all political parties with the aim of speeding up the election of a president.”

Hariri had returned Saturday to the country from a foreign trip that lasted several weeks.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.