Member of the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc, Deputy Hassan Fadlallah, stressed that the call by the Speaker of Parliament to hold a session to elect a President invalidates all the promotional and misleading campaigns launched by the other team, claiming that there will be no session because we cannot guarantee the success of our candidate.
"This team is accustomed to launching such accusations at every stage, which is evidence of their deceptive approach. As for us, we have a range of constitutional options, and we are discussing these options with our allies and friends to take the appropriate stance in the upcoming session," Fadlallah mentioned.
He also said these options are diverse and based on constitutional texts.
"Any option we resort to in the next session or other sessions has sufficient parliamentary support, and these options are certainly within the framework of the constitution and will not provide those who want to impose a confrontational and challenging president with what they desire."
Additionally, Fadlallah stressed that "when it was said that Sleiman Frangieh might receive 65 votes, some threatened to reconsider the Lebanese entity. Meanwhile, we are committed to our Lebanon, our constitution, and the implementation of the Taif Accord, and we do not want to reconsider anything."
"Instead, we will fully exercise our constitutional and legal rights. The constitution grants us the authority to participate or not, how to vote, and whom to vote for. We are now in the discussion stage and have time until the session date. We will take the common stance and implement it at the specified time," Fadlallah highlighted.
He went on to say that "this common stance is based on constitutional texts that grant us a set of powers. It can reject and prevent the passage of any president carrying the title of confrontation and challenge, regardless of their name. They changed the first name to a second one, but this doesn't change anything for us. They are a team that claims the right to nominate whoever they want, and no one prevents them from doing so. They claim the right to choose the name that belongs to them politically and financially, which was part of their system."
"In contrast, as a team, we can take the appropriate stance that does not allow this team to impose the name they want on the Parliament and the Lebanese people. We will rely on the constitutional option we are based on, and it will enhance the atmosphere of dialogue and understanding to reach an agreement on the President."
He added, "When the Lebanese constitution stipulates a two-thirds quorum, it is intended to ensure broader Lebanese Christian-Muslim participation in the president's election and to say to the parliamentary blocs, 'You are obliged to reach an agreement.' It is known that no one has a two-thirds majority, and until now, no one has reached 65 votes, despite the threats of external sanctions exerted by the other team, because a lack of agreement leads to the obstruction of the quorum." In its various blocs, the Challenge and Confrontation team announced that when Frangieh reaches 65 votes, they will obstruct the quorum. On the other hand, we proposed supporting a candidate based on engaging in dialogue with other blocs to get an understanding without imposing our choice on anyone.
He also confirmed that today's available option to overcome the current situation is a dialogue between the parliamentary blocs or the political forces that constitute these parliamentary blocs to reach an agreement on a president who achieves the two-thirds quorum and, if possible, the two-thirds majority.
"We have not closed the doors on anyone and said that dialogue should be without preconditions or canceling anyone, and we have dealt positively with the envoy from Baabda. There was a detailed explanation of our position, and we emphasized that the natural way out is through dialogue. We have not imposed our opinion on anyone or imposed a candidate on anyone. Instead, we said there is a candidate available, and let us discuss," Fadlallah clarified.
Moreover, he said, "We deal with the issue of the presidential election with the highest level of national responsibility, as the presidency holds a position of status, role, respect, and appreciation. We consider this an absolute position in the state, and therefore, the presidential process cannot be accomplished with political grudges or personal considerations. The natural achievement of the election can only be ensured through genuine partnership. We are committed to this national partnership and extend our hand to others from a position of eagerness and effort to solve the country's problems. A president cannot be imposed through challenge, confrontation, and provocation. Therefore, our invitation to all of them is not to exhaust yourselves and the country. You know you are nominating a vacuum with no chance or hope, as it comes from a unilateral direction and a partisan candidate. On our part, we do not want to impose a candidate on you, and we respect all groups and components."
Fadlallah concluded by saying, "We will not accept having a president for a specific group or an imposed or confrontational president because neither exaggeration, threats, shouting, accusations, nor debates can influence our convictions, choices, or directions in the Parliament, regardless of the rhetoric. This matter is crucial for governing the country for six years, and no one can influence us using any language other than the language of reason, logic, dialogue, and understanding."