PSP says Azour bid can't continue as 5 FPM MPs suspected of backing Franjieh

MPs from the Democratic Gathering bloc of the Progressive Socialist Party said in the wake of Wednesday’s presidential election session that it is no longer possible to continue to back Jihad Azour’s nomination, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

Five Free Patriotic Movement lawmakers are meanwhile suspected of having voted for Suleiman Franjieh in defiance of the FPM’s declared support for Azour, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said.

The speculation arose after Franjieh received five votes whose source remains unclear, although MP Ghassan Atallah of the FPM said that his Movement honored its pledges to vote for Azour.

Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, who belongs to the same bloc, meanwhile refused to reveal the identity of the candidate whom he voted for.

Other media reports said Franjieh might have received votes from the Armenian MPs.