Caretaker Minister of Information, Ziad Al-Makary, touched on the presidential issue in an intervention on MTV Channel, saying: ‘We have moved from the Franjieh-Azour stage to the Sleiman Franjieh-Joseph Aoun stage, and there is no candidate other than them.” He added that “Franjieh is a stable candidate with the support of his allies, starting from a base of 51 votes that are likely to rise in any future session.” Asked about the Army Chief’s possible candidacy, Makary considered his reaching Baabda Palace as not easy since that requires a constitutional amendment that needs consensus, and this entails the approval of the Shiite duo who are still committed to Franjieh as their presidential candidate. Makary continued to stress that Franjieh has no intention of withdrawing his candidacy, revealing that Franjieh did not meet with Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, and that his recent meeting with MP Mohammad Raad was scheduled before Le Drian’s visit to Beirut. Makary also indicated that th
e “Raad-Aoun” meeting was not of a presidential nature, considering that the majority of votes that Jihad Azour obtained will not be available to Joseph Aoun.
Source: National News Agency-Lebanon