The diplomatic initiative aims to break Lebanon’s presidential deadlock since former president Michel Aoun left office in October 2022.
The Quintet Group on Lebanon is scheduled to reconvene for the first time since last year to revive efforts aimed at breaking Beirut’s prolonged presidential deadlock, sources told Addiyar on Wednesday.
The group — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United States, and France — held their first meeting in Paris in February last year under an initiative led by French Presidential Envoy for Lebanon Jean-Yves Le Drian.
The group held their second meeting in Doha on July 17, 2023, where they discussed “concrete options with respect to implementing measures against those who are blocking progress” in the election of a president.
The diplomatic initiative aims to break Lebanon’s presidential deadlock since former president Michel Aoun left office in October 2022.
The sources did not disclose to Addiyar the upcoming meeting’s date or location as analysts speculated it would be held in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt. Qatari authorities have not publicly commented on the reported meeting.
The sources noted that the meeting will not bring about a final solution to electing a Lebanese president as each of the five members has different positions, though the five countries will present a “presidential road map.”
There have been several names on the table among Lebanese politicians, including Army Commander General Joseph Aoun, and Suleiman Frangieh, who is Hezbollah’s preferred candidate.
Qatar has repeatedly rejected claims over having a preferred candidate, stressing the president must be elected by the people.
Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, told Beirut’s Al Modon on January 7 that the presidential choice “is an internal Lebanese matter, and the first and the last decision is for the Lebanese themselves.”
Al-Khulaifi had met with Lebanese officials from different parties in Beirut last year as part of an “exploratory visit” amid the ongoing crisis.
He noted in his interview with Al Modon that Qatar will work “to bring viewpoints closer together to find a way out that will help resolve the crisis,” stressing that the solution “must come from the Lebanese themselves.”
The crisis-stricken country has failed to elect a president at least 12 times as it faces a deep division between Lebanon’s political parties, with each side pushing for its preferred candidate.
Electing a president is seen as a crucial step in resolving Lebanon’s economic crisis, the worst since the 1975 Lebanese civil war. The 2020 Beirut Port Explosion coupled with the COVID-19 outbreak contributed to the country’s worst economic downfall.
The Lebanese pound reached a record low value this year, losing about 97% of its value to the U.S. dollar.
The reported Quintet Group meeting this time would be facing additional hurdles as the cross-border flare-up in southern Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies more than 100 days on.
The attacks have triggered fears over another all-out war, reminiscent of the deadly 2006 war.
At the time, Israel waged a deadly 34-day war on Lebanon, killing 1,200 mostly Lebanese civilians. The war ended with Hezbollah forcing Israeli soldiers out after weeks of intense attacks
The tensions in southern Lebanon prompted the Lebanese government to discuss an emergency plan on October 31 should a full-scale war break out.
Israel killed at least 147 people in Lebanon while displacing 82,012 people, according to figures published by the Lebanese health ministry on Wednesday.
