The Syrian and regional crisis is nowhere near a resolution, the tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran continues, and all signs indicate that the overall political scene is status quo, these seem to be the circumstances under which the elections are happening, while all parties are maintaining their alliances in order to come out of this election with the biggest number of parliament members possible.
This is not the right period to make any dramatic changes or take any extreme actions, the best we can expect at the moment is the current coalitions to stand, as well as some new local alliances, especially that the coalitions that have formed over the past years are now irrelevant.
On that note, we cannot under-estimate that Michel Aoun’s presidency removed the free patriotic movement from any local alliance, also Joumblat declared that he won’t be part of any coalition in spite of his preferences.
In conclusion, there will be no new alliances/ and coalitions that exist today will remain, and this situation will stand till after the elections. What we can make out of today’s presidential meeting is that the situation is under control, the settlement is ongoing, stability is a red line, and institutional sustainability remains strong.