Berri: Electing President, Approving Electoral Law Will Stabilize Political Life in Lebanon

Speaker Nabih Berri voiced his agreement with Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri's position that priority in Lebanon lies in electing a new president, reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “Political life in Lebanon will be stabilized with the election of a president.”

“It will also be rectified with the agreement on a new parliamentary electoral law seeing as the current one does not meet the aspirations of the Lebanese people,” he added.

The new law should adopt large electoral districts and be based on proportional representation, which will guarantee the needs of each political camp, noted the speaker.

“We will be able to address the parliamentary elections once a president is elected and a new law is approved,” Berri stressed.

Hariri had stated on Tuesday after talks in Paris with French President Francois Hollande that the presidential elections should be a priority for Lebanon, revealing that his movement will not participate in the parliamentary polls should they be held in the absence of a president.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the elections.

A new elections session is scheduled for Thursday.

Commenting on the session, Berri told An Nahar: “It seems that the political blocks are making light of the elections.”

“No one speaks of them and yet they all stress the need to hold the polls, but none of them explain how they should be staged,” he added.

Some political blocks have been demanding that the parliamentary elections, which are set for November, should be held even if a head of state is not elected.

Others have been demanding that parliament's term be extended for a second time given the vacuum, poor security situation, and dispute over an electoral law.

Poor security and the disagreement over the law forced the extension of parliament's term last year.

M.T.

H.K.