Egypt Ambassador: No Lebanese president elected without dialogue

This week, a coalition of representatives from the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt, collectively known as the five-nation group, engaged Lebanese leaders in a concerted effort to resolve the ongoing presidential deadlock and the protracted political disputes.

Outlined by Egyptian Ambassador Alaa Moussa, their strategy unfolds in three stages, as he explained to LBCI on Wednesday. The initial step involves securing commitments from various political factions, followed by a period of consultations, culminating in the parliamentary election of a new president.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since the conclusion of Michel Aoun’s presidency in October 2022, with the country’s leading political groups — including Hezbollah and its rivals — lacking the necessary consensus to elect a successor.

The international and the five-nation group have persistently called on Lebanese political figures to overcome their differences, appoint a president, and address the nation’s economic crisis.

In pursuit of this goal, the five-nation group’s ambassadors held discussions with key Lebanese political figures this week, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, former President Michel Aoun, ex-leader of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat, and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. They plan to continue their diplomatic efforts with additional political entities in the upcoming month.

Despite some reservations about initiating dialogue, Ambassador Moussa emphasized the necessity of dialogue in the presidential election process, stating that no Lebanese president has been elected without it. He reiterated the group’s commitment to upholding the Lebanese constitution.

Patriarch al-Rahi, however, expressed concerns that dialogue could potentially delay the election process, advocating for a direct parliamentary vote to elect the president. Sources from Bkerki have criticized the emphasis on dialogue as inefficient, advocating for a more straightforward adherence to constitutional procedures for electing the president.