Mashnouq: Security under Control, Serious Drive to End Vacuum

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq reassured Wednesday that the security situation is “under control,” while noting that there are serious efforts to put an end to the presidential vacuum that has been running since May 2014.

“The security situations in the country are under control,” Mashnouq told Norwegian Ambassador to Lebanon Lene Natasha Lind during a meeting at the ministry.

“There is a serious drive to end the presidential vacuum,” Mashnouq, a member of ex-PM Saad Hariri's Mustaqbal Movement, added.

Hariri's return to Lebanon on Saturday had triggered a flurry of rumors and media reports about an imminent election of a president.

The parliament however failed anew to elect a president during a 45th session that was held earlier on Wednesday and Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled the next session for October 31.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.