On Tuesday, Kuwait’s Al Rai newspaper reported that Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch, Beshara Al-Rahi, has already some names in mind as potential candidates for the presidential elections.
He explained that his choices will be based on “the personality and neutral characteristics that he has proposed.”
He first gave two names:
Ziad Baroud, former minister of interior and municipalities from 2008 till 2011. He served in the cabinet of both former prime ministers Fouad Siniora and Saad Al-Hariri.
Roger Dib, a former minister in Lebanon’s post-civil war government.
Later on, the patriarch also gave the name of Jihad Azour, former minister of finance from 2005 to 2008 during Siniora’s government, and current Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The current President Michel Aoun’s term is set to end this October and the presidential elections should happen soon after.
The ongoing speculations regarding the next president are spinning around three main potential candidates: The Lebanese Army Commander Joseph Aoun, the LF leader Samir Geagea, and the head of the Marada Movement Suleiman Franjieh.
Related: Patriarch Al-Rahi Is Demanding That The Beirut Blast Investigation Continues.
