Nasrallah Steps In to Settle Berri, Aoun Dispute over Jezzine, Baabda
The electoral picture in Baabda and Jezzine remained gloomy with some reports talking about a breakthrough, while others saying no progress had been made.
The daily As Nahar said that while the majority March 14 forces” electoral ticket in Baabda seemed to have settled on candidates Elias Abu Assi, Salah Hnein and Bassem al-Sabaa, no deal has been reached by the opposition side.
As Safir newspaper, however, said that a breakthrough seemed in the offing after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stepped in to settle the Aoun-Berri crisis.
When the crisis seemed to have reached a dead-end, Nasrallah dispatched his political aide Hajj Hussein al-Khalil in an effort to find a face-saving exit to this difficult situation, "even if part of it was at Hizbullah”s expense or at that of its candidates," As Safir wrote.
It said Nasrallah”s inference "opened the door to a wide array of proposals" where both sides exchanged suggestions that ended up in drafting a semi-final formula such as Berri would withdraw his candidate for the Shiite seat in Baabda Talal Hatoum in favor of a candidate who represents Shiite families in Beirut”s southern suburbs and at the same time enjoys both Aoun”s and Hizbullah”s support.
In return, As Safir went on to say, Berri would get a seat either in Beirut”s Second Constituency at the expense of Hizbullah parliamentary bloc candidate MP Amin Sherri or be granted the Shiite seat "occupied" by Hussein Husseini in Baalbek-Hermel, especially since the former Speaker has nominated himself without prior coordination with the sides in charge of forming electoral tickets.
Berri denied any problem between him and Aoun, telling An Nahar that "contacts are ongoing."
He said he had asked two AMAL politburo members Hani Qobeisi and Mohammed Khawaja to run for the Shiite seat in Beirut”s Second Constituency.
"I”m not squeezed in time. I will announce the names of the candidates a week before elections," Berri added.
Al Liwa newspaper, for its part, quoted AMAL movement sources as saying that Qobeisi”s nomination was part of the deal with Hizbullah to settle the Aoun-Berri the dispute.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah denied Sherri”s withdrawal from the election race.
The daily Al Akhbar quoted senior Hizbullah sources as saying that "everybody has entered the maneuvering stage before setting down on a final decision."
On Jezzine, local media agreed that more contacts are needed in order to come out with a compromise.