Berri Suspicious of Miqati's Call for Parliamentary Session on Caretaker Cabinet Tasks

Speaker Nabih Berri has hinted that he needed guarantees from caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati that he would attend a parliamentary session to specify the jurisdiction of a caretaker cabinet.

In remarks to several dailies published on Wednesday, Berri asked: “What are the guarantees that he would attend a parliamentary session if I reacted positively to his call?”

Miqati told his visitors at the Grand Serail on Tuesday that it has become necessary to spell out the tasks of the caretaker government.

“Parliament is the arena where this can take place,” he said.

“How can I respond to his suggestion as long as he boycotts sessions?” Berri wondered in his remarks.

Miqati has been boycotting parliamentary sessions with 45 items on their agenda over claims that the legislature should only meet for emergency issues amid a resigned cabinet.

The sessions haven't been held yet over the boycott of several parliamentary blocs, mainly al-Mustaqbal, which has severely criticized Berri for trying to impose the power of the legislature on the rest of the state institutions.

Al-Mustaqbal has also been calling for the withdrawal of Hizbullah fighters from Syria as a condition for the formation of an all-embracing cabinet.

But Berri said: “I don't understand the link between the two.”

Both the March 8 and March 14 alliances should get veto power to resolve the cabinet formation crisis, he said.

“March 14 would emerge victorious because it doesn’t even exist in Miqati's cabinet,” the speaker added.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has so far failed to form his government more than seven months after his appointment.

He blames the conditions and counter conditions set by the rival parties on the inability to assemble his government.