Participants in Lebanon's national dialogue held their first official discussion of potential replacements for President Emile Lahoud on Friday, bridging what had been a psychological barrier before adjourning until a follow-up session on May 16.Although the names of the four individuals under consideration - MP Michel Aoun, MP Butros Harb, former MP Nassib Lahoud and Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad - had been among the country's worst-kept secrets for months, this was the first they had been publicly acknowledged.
At a press conference after the talks, Speaker Nabih Berri said the entire session had been dedicated to the presidency but that it would have to be revisited in the next round of talks. He told reporters that regardless of whether or not a decision was reached on presidency issues on May 16, participants would move on to another subject of considerable contention, that of Hizbullah's arms.
Speaking with The Daily Star immediately after the talks, Harb confirmed that the names discussed were those made public earlier in the day by Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea. Geagea had mentioned the four names during a visit to Bkirki to see the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir.
Asked if Aoun had put his own name forward as a candidate, Berri said: "We've always said that Aoun is a very serious candidate for the presidency, but other names were put forward as well."
Asked if the next session would deal with the subject of border demarcation and the Shebaa Farms again - a source of much disagreement between Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, - the speaker tried to change the subject. "Does it look like we're playing here?" he asked. This decision has been taken." Asked whose version - Nasrallah's or Jumblatt's - had been agreed upon, Berri was non-committal. "Go back and re-read exactly what I announced after the last session," he said. "We won't be discussing that again."