Geagea Meets Berri's Panel, Says Speaker to Call for Electing President Once Envoys Finish Their Tour

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Friday that Speaker Nabih Berri will call for a parliamentary session to elect a new president once a delegation he has tasked to communicate with all parties finishes its mission.

“Speaker Berri will call for an electoral session when the committee finishes its tour,” Geagea said after meeting with the three-member panel in Maarab.

“There are strenuous efforts to hold the vote within the constitutional timeframe,” Geagea told reporters.

In response to a question, the LF leader said “the presidential election must be a Lebanese-Lebanese election, not a Lebanese-Lebanese consensus, because that would be a return to the consensual president trend.”

Geagea also revealed that the LF will announce Saturday whether or not it will take part in the March 31 national dialogue session.

Berri's committee -- which comprises Development and Liberation bloc MPs Yassine Jaber, Ali Osseiran and Michel Moussa – did not make a statement after the meeting, but Geagea's press office noted that the talks were positive and friendly.

“The issue of the presidential vote was the focus of discussions and all of its aspects were tackled, starting with securing quorum and ending with holding the electoral session,” the press office added.

Meanwhile, the three-member delegation also held talks with Arab Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan.

Earlier on Friday, MP Jaber told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that the committee's mission will likely end in 4-5 days.

The committee's main task is to discuss the presidential polls with party leaders and heads of parliamentary blocs to guarantee a quorum and the appropriate atmosphere for a parliamentary session.

The decision to name a candidate is up to the parliamentary blocs and lawmakers and is not part of the job of the three-member body, Berri told al-Akhbar on Thursday.

The committee met on Thursday with Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun, Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel and MP Michel Murr.

On Monday, the three Development and Liberation bloc lawmakers will hold talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, Marada movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh, Tashnag party representatives and former Prime Minister Najib Miqati, who is also an MP.

Al-Rahi has urged Berri to convene a legislative session as soon as possible to elect a new head of state.

President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ends on May 25. But the Constitutional deadline for parliament to start convening to elect a new head of state started on March 25.

The patriarch will be the only religious leader with whom the lawmakers would meet given that the 1943 power-sharing agreement states the president should be a Maronite.

Under the agreement along confessional lines the prime minister should be a Sunni and the speaker a Shiite.

Parliament's bureau agreed on Thursday to have a two-thirds quorum in the session on the presidential polls.

Berri has said that a candidate should receive a two-thirds of votes to win in the first round and half-plus-one or 65 votes of the 128-member parliament to win in the second round, he said.