Reports: Le Drian tacitly proposes Gen. Aoun, promises continuous quorum
French Special Presidential Envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian has tacitly proposed the election as president of Army chief General Joseph Aoun in his latest meetings with Lebanese officials, media reports said.
“Several parties who met with Le Drian said that they understood from his remarks that he was proposing Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, albeit without mentioning him by name,” MTV reported.
The TV network added that Le Drian might replace inter-Lebanese dialogue with a meeting with Lebanese political officials to brief them on the outcome of his visit.
Asked by an MP whether there are guarantees that the quorum of electoral sessions would not be lost, Le Drian said -- according to al-Liwaa newspaper -- that Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed to him that he does not intend to block quorum and that his bloc will not walk out of parliament.
“Following dialogue there will be successive sessions and open electoral rounds,” Le Drian was quoted as saying.
He also hinted that “any of the proposed candidates, Suleiman Franjieh and Jihad Azour, will not be elected,” a Change MP said, according to remarks published by al-Liwaa.
“There is broad international consensus over this initiative,” Le Drian reportedly told a Change bloc delegation.
Al-Jadeed television meanwhile quoted Le Drian as saying that “the presidential election session will resemble the election of the pope in the Vatican.”
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