Opposition to 'vote for army chief' in second electoral round

The opposition has inched closer to endorsing the presidential nomination of Army chief General Joseph Aoun, the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper has reported.

“The advantage is for the army chief in the presidential file in this extraordinary period,” opposition MP Ashraf Rifi said in a radio interview.

French envoy Jean-Yves “Le Drian is preparing the third choice, seeing as Hezbollah has confirmed that the most that Suleiman Franjieh can get is 51 votes, after the (recent electoral) battle between Franjieh and Jihad Azour,” Rifi added.

“Should the Shiite Duo insist to save face with Suleiman Franjieh, the confrontation in the first round will be between Franjieh and opposition candidate Jihad Azour, but I believe that General Joseph Aoun will be the opposition’s candidate in the second round,” Rifi said.

Caretaker Information Minister Ziad Makari, who is close to Franjieh, meanwhile announced that “we have moved from the Franjieh-Azour phase to the Suleiman Franjieh-Joseph Aoun phase.”

“There is no candidate other than them and Franjieh is a firm candidate with support from his allies and based on 51 votes that are likely to surge in any upcoming session,” Makari added, noting that “withdrawal is not an option for Suleiman Franjieh.”