Berri on Electing a President: 'I See no Light on Horizon'
Speaker Nabih Berri lamented the lawmakers' failure to fill the vacuum at the top state post in the country saying that he “still does not see light on the horizon.”
“Leaving the democratic game is what brought us to this end. Its a pity that the parliament held two dozen sessions to elect a president (and failed) and I still do not see light on the horizon,” Berri told al-Mustaqbal daily in comments, expressing regret and sorrow.
Holding each politician responsible for that failure, Berri said: “I hold the whole political strata responsible for that failure and for the dark tunnel of obstruction they brought us to.”
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014. Lawmakers have failed over 23 sessions to achieve quorum in parliament or agree on a consensual president.
On the initiative brought forward by Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun the Speaker stated: “the Liberation and Development bloc met with a delegation from the Change and Reform bloc (led by Aoun) where they discussed the initiative and suggested a number of clarifications. Discussions will carry on with Aoun's and all other parliamentary blocs.”
He stressed that some items in Aoun's initiative require a constitutional amendment while other items need no such thing.
Aoun's initiative sets four solutions to the presidential deadend, at the forefront the election of a president directly from the people in two phases, first by the Christians, who would eliminate candidates and on a second phase by the Lebanese people.
Another solution would be a popular referendum and the candidate who garners most votes would be elected by the parliament as a new president.
The initiative also includes the possibility of electing the Maronite candidate who has the majority of representation at the parliament, while the fourth is staging the parliamentary elections ahead of the presidential polls based on a new electoral law that provides equality between Christians and Muslims.
On the other hand and regarding the thorny file of the northeastern border town of Arsal, Berri hailed the army's endeavors to take control of the situation in the northeastern town and said: “The army is carrying out its mission in Arsal and is holding the reigns just fine. We still have to follow up on the issue of Syrian refugees as suggested in the dialogue sessions lately.”
He stressed to al-Joumhouria newspaper the will to follow up on the case “and find a proper solution to remove this burden from the town and preserve its safety with the help and protection of the army,” he concluded.
Arsal has become a safe haven for Syrian refugees where the army fears that such encampments could nest terrorists and jihadists spilling over from war-torn Syria.
Moreover, the outskirts of the town happen to be on the borderline with Syria's al-Qalamoun where al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are engaged in heavy clashes with Hizbullah and the Syrian regime.
Fears that the clashes could push the militants to flee into Lebanon's territories, put the Lebanese army in that region on alert.
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