FPM MP: Talks with LF hit dead end, page turned on Azour

The latest negotiations between the parties that oppose Suleiman Franjieh’s presidential nomination have failed to reach any result, ad-Diyar newspaper quoted “trusted sources” as saying.

“The reported progress towards nominating ex-minister Jihad Azour as a candidate who would run against Franjieh has vanished and things returned to square one due to the dispute that surfaced in the last stage of the contacts and negotiations between the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement,” the sources said.

“A fundamental dispute surfaced between the two parties, which is the the LF wanted Azour to be a confrontation candidate in the face of Franjieh, whereas the FPM did not want to adopt this approach, especially after it sensed and confirmed that the (Shiite) Duo is opposed to Azour and to moving to the so-called Plan B,” the sources added.

MP Alain Aoun of the FPM confirmed to ad-Diyar this atmosphere, noting that “the contacts have achieved nothing.”

“The page has been turned on ex-minister Jihad Azour after no agreement was reached on him and because he personally does not want to be a confrontation candidate,” Aoun said.

“I can say that we have returned to square one,” he added.