Tripoli”s Coalition to be Settled, Ongoing Negotiations between Hariri, Jamaa Islamiya
The next 48 hours will be decisive in terms of announcing the coalition list in Tripoli, sources told An Nahar daily, as negotiations between Saad Hariri”s al-Mustaqbal movement and Jamaa Islamiya continued.
The agreement on the Tripoli list between Hariri, Former PM Najib Miqati and Minister Mohammed Safadi could see light soon, al-Liwaa newspaper said. The Western Bekaa list of the March 14 forces will be announced after the Tripoli ticket while Zahle will be left for later.
The March 14 forces also agreed on the Batroun list which will include MPs Boutros Harb and Antoine Zahra. The ticket will be officially unveiled Saturday afternoon in Batroun.
As for Kesrouan, March 14 sources told al-Liwaa that the coalition will enter the electoral race with an incomplete list headed by National Bloc Party leader Carlos Edde. Two seats will be left vacant for former MPs Mansour Ghanem al-Bon and Farid Haykal al-Khazen.
The same applies to Jbeil, whereby March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid will possibly be a single-seat contestant although the door will be left open for independent candidates.
The same sources said the March 14 list in the Metn was finalized after it was agreed to give Lebanese Forces candidate Eddy Abi Lamaa a place in the ticket at the expense of Pierre Ashkar.
Announcement of the ticket awaits final arrangements that MP Michel Murr is making with his allies, particularly Ashkar.
Meanwhile, Jamaa Islamiya”s deputy secretary general Sheikh Ibrahim al-Masri told al-Liwaa that a meeting between the grouping and Hariri did not come up with major results.
"No progress has been made yet but we hope to achieve positive results," he said.
Masri said, however, that more than one meeting was held Monday with the Mustaqbal movement to discuss electoral alliances in several districts, adding that both sides were not in a hurry to reach a final decision.