The editor-in-chief of Al-Jumhuriya newspaper, Tariq Tarshishi, expected that the push towards electing a president for the republic would take place immediately after the end of the Arab summit, leading to June 15, and that everything that happened previously was preparations, and what delayed the election until today is internal disputes.
And he continued, in an interview via “Spot Shot” for the “Point of View” program, “The positive climate that the Saudi-Iranian agreement left on the region overcame and curbed all crises from Yemen to Iraq and Syria to Lebanon, even the Sudan crisis is working on resolving Saudi Arabia.”
He added, “I called the Arab summit the name of the ‘summit of those returning from wars to peace’. It is the summit that will be attended for the return of the Arabs to their main role in the region.”
As Tarshichi saw, “the initiatives towards Lebanon have ended, and the internal parties know what is required of them well. Saudi Arabia wants to end the vacuum, and the Lebanese must agree on a president, matching it in this proposal with the American and Iranian position. As for the five-party meeting, its effect has ended, and if it is held, then it is the culmination of the solution.”
On the return of the Syrian role to Lebanon, he said: “Syria’s return to Lebanon is not military nor is it a tutelage. Rather, it is a return to completing the implementation of the Taef Accord in which it shares with Saudi Arabia, and the Lebanese solution will be Saudi-Syrian, that is, S-S, with a new look and better conditions.”
He stressed that an election for the President of the Republic would take place before June 15. “This date was set by President Nabih Berri based on the data available to him, and while the opposition did not agree on a candidate, the Shiite duo insist on supporting the candidacy of the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Franjieh, because he has the characteristics and relations that enable him to manage this stage”.
Regarding the economic situation, he said: “There is a decision issued that the collapse must be stopped, and this is evidence that we are entering a transitional phase, which aims to elect the president and form a reform government, after which Arab support and urgent aid will be obtained with a financial part that may be in the form of deposits that support the government’s reform projects.”
He concluded by noting that “there is no fear for the Lebanese economy after the end of the mandate of the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, because the vacuum phase will be temporary in which the deputy governor will assume responsibility for a short period until the new governor is appointed, as I am confident that a president will be elected before June 15.”
