Le Drian's mission in Lebanon: Seeking presidential election solutions

French Special Envoy to Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, is set to visit Beirut this week, and according to French sources, this visit will not be solitary.

The sources mentioned that it might be repeated multiple times as France seeks to improve its actions regarding the presidential elections, especially considering that the initial visit is exploratory, neither canceling any initiatives nor introducing new ones.

These sources also indicated that the French Foreign Ministry is preparing an agenda of appointments with Le Drian, which will also include presidential candidates and potential candidates.

In addition to meeting with the Marada Movement leader, Sleiman Frangieh, Le Drian will meet with Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, former minister Ziad Baroud, and other officials. Moreover, if former minister Jihad Azour is in Lebanon, Le Drian will meet with him.

However, the French sources emphasized that it is early to discuss any results of Le Drian's mission, and it is too early to talk, for example, about the possibility of a conference related to Lebanon.

They stated that Le Drian would not move toward Beirut until he meets with President Emmanuel Macron, considering the outcomes of Macron's discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the Lebanese issue.

On another note, some sources revealed that the French side received from the Saudis the results of Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan's visit to Tehran, which included matters related to the Lebanese presidential elections and the selection of a president who can keep pace with the regional developments aiming to alleviate the problems and achieve political and security stability.

Furthermore, there is secrecy surrounding the results of the visit of the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, Gebran Bassil, to Qatar.

Bassil's sources say there are no details available on this matter. One of the proposed solutions to the presidential crisis is electing Army Commander General Joseph Aoun as the President. Additionally, it has become known that Qatar is working on this suggestion and will present it again in any upcoming meeting of the Paris Quartet countries.