Reports: Le Drian to propose 3 candidates, army chief in the lead

Army Commander General Joseph Aoun is currently the leading candidate in the presidential race, but French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian is insisting to return to Beirut with two or three names, informed sources said.

“This would facilitate the discussion with the hesitant parties or those who have reservations over the army chief, such as the Free Patriotic Movement,” the sources added, in remarks to Kuwait’s al-Anbaa newspaper.

Informed sources meanwhile told Kuwait’s al-Rai newspaper that a Qatari envoy “will seek to remove the obstacles that are blocking the presidential settlement by trying to clench a domestic consensus that would complement an appropriate regional atmosphere for the election of a third candidate other than Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh and ex-minister Jihad Azour, who would be General Aoun.”

“Le Drian has proposed a consensual exit for ending the presidential crisis which would not embarrass Speaker Nabih Berri and would not provoke the opposition,” the sources added.

The proposal calls for “holding a meeting for Lebanese leaders at the French embassy under his chairmanship, which would not be labeled as as dialogue meeting,” the sources said.

“It would be a meeting for discussing the answers that he received from all parties, after which Berri would invite MPs to a presidential election session with successive rounds as all parties would pledge not to block quorum no matter what the result may be,” the sources added.