By the end of 2014, 221 days will have passed in Lebanon without an elected president of the republic. Half a year has passed without any elections to fill the position of head of state and the symbol of national unity, as specified in the Lebanese Constitution.

However, Lebanon seems to be heading toward solutions to its crises, with two dialogues in Beirut apparently linked to Saudi Arabia’s intention to reach a settlement in Lebanon.

The first dialogue, which started Dec. 23 in Beirut, was between the Future Movement, led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and Hezbollah. These direct talks' dimensions between the two main Sunni and Shiite parties in Lebanon exceed the Lebanese framework. Hezbollah is fully engaged in the ongoing Syrian war and has a structural relationship with Tehran. Hariri, on the other hand, has a direct relationship with some of the Syrian opposition fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime and an organic relationship with the Saudi regime, even bearing Saudi nationality and spending a lot of time there. Thus, the dialogue between two internal Lebanese parties becomes an indirect or proxy discussion between Riyadh and Tehran, or even between Sunnis and Shiites, in the context of extreme regional Sunni-Shiite sectarian tensions.

The end of 2014 in Lebanon has also witnessed the beginning of another dialogue between the two main Christian leaders in Beirut: Gen. Michel Aoun, head of the largest Christian parliamentary and ministerial bloc, and Samir Geagea, the leader of the Lebanese forces. This dialogue is similarly complex. Each of these two presidential candidates is allied with a party: Aoun is Hezbollah’s ally, and Geagea is Hariri’s. It is said that some of the reasons for the presidential vacuum are due to their disagreement, and that any agreement between them will settle the Lebanese presidential impasse, regardless of other internal or external factors.