Hezbollah-backed candidate rejected

Hezbollah-backed candidate rejected

Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader, Michel Aoun, flied to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after Hezbollah nominated presidential candidate was rejected by FPM.

This visit comes after FPM’s rejection of Hezbollah-backed Suleiman Frangieh’s candidacy and support for opposition presidential candidate Jihad Azour.

Aoun was recorded saying that Jihad Azour, former finance minister, is “a technocrat and works at the IMF (as Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department), which is what Lebanon needs, while the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Frangieh, is an integral part of the ruling system that has brought Lebanon to where it is”, Arab News reported.

Aoun was accompanied on his visit by Pierre Raffoul, a former minister of state. Considering that Suleiman Frangieh, who is supported by Hezbollah, is a close friend of Assad, the goal of this visit is to deepen ties with Damascus.

Since Michel Aoun’s term as president came to an end in late October 2022, Lebanon has been without a president. Political dispute has taken over Lebanon’s political scene ever since.

So far, Jihad Azour, former minister and IMF economist, was backed by a group of 32 legislators following weeks of negotiations “as a candidate that is not considered provocative by any political factor in the country,”.

Supporters of Azour argue that he will win with a landslide, but the outcome of the second round of voting will determine that. In a statement with all parties in Lebanon, Azour said that he does not want to be a “confrontation president,” Al-Jadeed TV reported on Sunday.

Source » albawaba