The head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, has said that “efforts are being exerted for an agreement among the Lebanese over a certain solution for finalizing the presidential juncture.”
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A day after French special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian left Lebanon, Nidaa al-Watan newspaper reported that Saudi Arabia prioritizes the election of a president to holding a dialogue.
Le Drian, on his second mission to Lebanon, proposed to all those taking part in the process of electing a president to invite them to a meeting in Lebanon in September to achieve a consensus on the challenges and on the priority projects the future president will have to carry out, and consequently the qualities necessary for tackling them.
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Three of the Central Bank vice-governors will not resign, while the first vice-governor Wassim Mansouri is being pressured to resign, informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper.
The sources added, in remarks published Friday, that a legislative session might be held to provide a legal cover for the vice-governors to spend from the obligatory reserves for a three-month period.
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The opposition camp will hold consultations prior to giving a final answer to French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian regarding his proposal for holding dialogue in September over the new president’s qualifications, Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel said.
“The consultations will take place today or tomorrow and we will have a unified answer,” Gemayel told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath television.
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Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Thursday that he has not yet succeeded in convincing the Central Bank vice-governors not to resign.
"We are discussing the opportunity to give the vice-governors a temporary funding to maintain financial stability," he added.
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Outgoing Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has stressed that he will not stay in his post after his term expires on July 31, as he warned against abolishing the Sayarfa exchange platform in an abrupt manner.
“I declared a year ago that this would be my last term at the Banque du Liban and in a few days I will turn a page of my life,” Salameh said in an overnight interview on LBCI television.
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French presidential envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian met Thursday with Hezbollah MP Mohammed Raad in Haret Hreik and with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for a second time in Ain el-Tineh.
Le Drian arrived Tuesday in Lebanon to help resolve divisions that have left the presidency vacant for nearly nine months and met with Berri, who said that the meeting was "good" and that "an opening has pierced through" Lebanon's power vacuum.
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A cabinet session to appoint a new central bank governor was cancelled Thursday due to a lack of quorum.
Only several ministers showed up at the Grand Serail and held a consultation meeting.
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The Justice Ministry announced Wednesday that it is preparing to submit to the State Shura Council a request for naming an interim director for the Central Bank, days before the expiry of the term of long-serving Governor Riad Salameh.
The Ministry said its move comes “in light of the developments that might arise over the next two days, to avoid any vacuum in the Central Bank’s governor post and to secure the proper functioning of the financial and monetary facility.”
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Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Wednesday after meeting French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian in Maarab that the French diplomat did not discuss presidential names with him.
"We did not discuss new names," Geagea said, stressing that the talks are confidential.
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