MP Ahmad Kheir of the National Moderation bloc seemrd optimistic about a possible breakthrough on the presidential election issue. “Our initiative includes ten points, eight of which have been addressed,” he said after a meeting of the bloc’s MPs with the Speaker of Parliament, Nabih Berri, on Thursday. “Obstacles surround the last two points, but we are trying to resolve them with Berri’s help,” he added.
Kheir explained that the meeting aimed to inform the Speaker of the results of the bloc MPs’ initiative to tour the various Lebanese parties. This initiative had, however, been rejected by Hezbollah.
The initiative aimed to bring parliamentarians together at Nejmeh Square for informal discussions on the presidential election. At the end of these discussions, a call would be made to Berri to convene an electoral session with successive rounds until a president is elected.
The National Moderation meeting comes at a time when the ambassadors of the Quintet (United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt), who support the bloc’s initiative, have resumed their tour of the various Lebanese parties in yet another attempt to break the deadlock over the presidential election.
The caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, also received the National Moderation MPs. Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Sagih Atieh said that Mikati would help them “overcome the obstacles” facing their initiative.
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