Nasrallah to Announce His Candidates, Jezzine List Awaits Agreement on Catholic Seat
Lebanese opposition parties have nearly finalized their electoral lists while Hizbullah is set to announce its full list of candidates on Wednesday.
Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will give a press conference Wednesday at 8:30pm, according to Al-Akhbar newspaper, in which he is expected to discuss electoral issues and announce the full list of names from Hizbullah and others from the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc.
Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Wednesday that leaders of the opposition parties are very close to completing their electoral lists. All that remains is a final agreement in Jezzine regarding the remaining Catholic seat.
Al-Liwaa reported that the lists in Jezzine would include Speaker Nabih Berri, Samir Azar (Maronite), Ziad Aswad (Maronite), and Issam Sawaya (Catholic).
Regarding recent reported infighting between Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, the Amal head said: "I open the newspapers and read every morning about the electoral battle… and about battles… between myself and others," adding, "I say to everyone: I have no knowledge of these battles."
Berri told An-Nahar newspaper that there have been no new developments with regard to the electoral lists and Al-Hayat reported that ongoing conversations between the speaker, Aoun, and Hizbullah officials have yielded no results.
In the Bekaa, Al-Akhbar has reported that the nomination of MP Marwan Fares has led to the exclusion of former Minister Albert Mansour from March 8″s list in Baalbek-Hermel. Mansour told Al-Akhbar that he "doesn”t want to get into a battle with Hizbullah since [there is] no political dispute with it."
The newspaper also reported that MPs Mohammed Yaghi and Hassan Yacoub have been semi-finalized on March 8″s list in Baalbek-Hermel and Zahle.