BEIRUT: France offered Monday to help rival Lebanese factions reach an agreement on a president, in the latest attempt to end the political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a head of state for over six months.
“The Lebanese must make a final decision and choose a president for their state without foreign intervention,” Jean-François Girault, head of the French Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department, told reporters following talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.
“They must reach an understanding on the name of the [presidential] candidate and there should be an agreement. France proposes facilitating the agreement if Lebanon wants that,” he said.
While Girault was in Beirut, French President Francois Hollande spoke by telephone with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday night, according to a statement released by Hariri’s office. It did not give details of the conversation.
Girault arrived here Sunday on a few days’ visit for talks aimed primarily at prodding the feuding Lebanese parties to speed up the election of successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25.
He said France and several of its partners were concerned over the presidential vacuum, which has entered its seventh month.
A longtime Middle East envoy who has served as the ambassador to Syria and Iraq and worked as a diplomat in Iran, Girault stressed that France did not support any specific presidential candidate. “The presidential vacuum, which is entering its seventh month, is worrying France and many of its partners,” he said.
“In order to face this impasse, France is acting objectively and putting itself and its energy to serve Lebanon,” Girault said, adding: “But we should be clear that the Lebanese presidential election is a Lebanese national issue and France does not have any candidates or a veto [on any candidate]. It supports the Lebanese state and the work of institutions.”
Declaring that France is “Lebanon’s faithful friend,” Girault said: “France is committed to [Lebanon’s] unity, safety and sovereignty. The gravity of the regional situation, particularly the conflict in Syria, is having its weight on Lebanon through unbearable challenges and uneven burdens.”
Girault, accompanied by French Ambassador Patrice Paoli, later met with Speaker Nabih Berri with whom he discussed the presidential crisis and developments in the region.
He held talks with Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil before meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and MP Walid Jumblatt. He also met separately with former premiers Najib Mikati and Fouad Siniora.
During his meeting with Geagea in Maarab, Girault stressed that “the Lebanese presidency is an internal Lebanese affair and France will do what it can to facilitate the election without interfering in names and candidates,” according to a statement released by the LF chief’s office.
Girault also told Geagea that equipping the Lebanese Army with French weapons under the Saudi $3 billion gift was underway and that only “some practical steps” were left.
Girault’s visit comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov ended a two-day trip to Beirut during which he held talks with rival Lebanese leaders on the presidential impasse and the Syrian crisis.
The French official’s talks came a day before Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was due to arrive in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders on the presidential deadlock, the Syrian refugee crisis and cooperation between the EU and Lebanon.
Berri sounded pessimistic about the election of a president soon. He said Wednesday’s Parliament session, the 16th attempt to elect a president, is destined to fail like previous ones over a lack of quorum.
Meanwhile, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn met separately with Berri, Salam, Bassil and Jumblatt for talks on political developments in Lebanon and the region.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Bassil at the Foreign Ministry, Asselborn praised Lebanon’s democracy, saying it should be safeguarded and supported by the EU.
“The EU is ready to support and help Lebanon in its current situation. The biggest problem now is the problem of accommodating [Syrian] refugees who constitute ... a third of Lebanon’s population,” he said.
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