Berri, Bloc Members Submit Candidacies for Parliamentary Elections

Speaker Nabih Berri and his parliamentary bloc submitted their candidacies on Thursday for the parliamentary elections.

According to the National News Agency, Berri, who is also the head of the Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc, submitted his candidacy before leaving the country on a private visit.

Media reports said that his bloc members also filed their candidacies.

The head of the AMAL movement has continuously called for the staging of timely polls despite the presidential vacuum.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq issued a memo last week detailing the documents needed for those seeking to run in the elections on November 16.

The memo was based on a decree that he issued last month, calling on the electoral bodies to elect lawmakers.

It stated that nominations will be accepted from August 28 to September 16.

Last year, the rival MPs extended their tenure until November 2014 after they failed to agree on a new electoral draft-law.

Lebanon has been without a president since May 25 when Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended amid differences between the rival parliamentary blocs on a compromise candidate.

Several blocs have boycotted the sessions aimed at finding a successor to Suleiman, causing lack of quorum.

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