Report: Hariri Initiative Caused 'Confusion' among Change and Reform Bloc

Some members of the March 8 coalition, starting with the Change and Reform bloc, have voiced their “annoyance” with the proposal launched by Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri to end the presidential vacuum in the country, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday.

Parliamentary sources told the daily that the meeting between Hariri and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh “created confusion” in the Change and Reform bloc, which has negatively affected the discussions at the committee tasked with devising a new parliamentary electoral law.

Hariri has been pushing for the election of Franjieh as president as part of a greater settlement that would revitalize the political scene in Lebanon.

“The camp that is opposing Franjieh's nomination is banking on gaining time in a hope that circumstances would change,” added the sources.

“This stalling tactic will weigh heavily on the proceedings of the parliamentary electoral committee,” they explained.

The sources clarified that the Change and Reform bloc's stalling in electing a president “would impose devising an electoral law that suits it.”

“This will be followed by the parliamentary elections and later the election of a president,” they stated.

The sources doubted however that such a goal would be achieved given the presidential vacuum and crippled parliament.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.