Change MPs promote Honein, win Kataeb and Sunni MPs' support

The so-called change parliamentary bloc is trying to break the status quo created by MP Michel Mouawad’s nomination through promoting the candidacy of ex-MP Salah Honein, whom they see as “a sovereign, reformist and unprovocative candidate who did not get involved in corruption,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Change MPs believe that Honein “can unify the opposition’s votes around him, contrary to Mouawad,” the daily added.

Accordingly, they have carried out a series of contacts with the other opposition blocs, which expressed readiness to endorse him, especially the Kataeb bloc and the independent Sunni MPs, al-Akhbar said.

The Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party have not yet presented “any clear answer,” the newspaper quoted sources as saying.

“The two parties are still clinging to Mouawad’s nomination and this will continue until the end of this month, without clarifying their reasons, unless they are perhaps betting on a certain event or waiting for Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari to replace Mouawad with another candidate,” the daily added.