Berri Says he Backs Hariri, Jumblat on Call for Electoral Session with 3 Candidates

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that he agrees with al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on their call for lawmakers to head to parliament and elect one of three candidates.

Berri, whose remarks were published in al-Joumhouria daily on Wednesday, told his visitors that he has been repeating the same idea lately.

The speaker said Hariri’s return to Beirut will help resolve several problems.

Hariri has been holding talks with officials since his return to Beirut on Sunday to participate in the ceremony that was held in BIEL on the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

In his meetings, the Mustaqbal chief is urging the officials to play the democratic game.

He is pressuring all blocs to attend the next session on the election of a president on March 2 so that lawmakers choose one of the three candidates – Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun, Marada chief MP Suleiman Franjieh and lawmaker Henri Helou, who is a member of Jumblat’s bloc.

But parliamentary sources ruled out the election of a president next month as a result of lack of quorum.

The sources told al-Joumhouria that Lebanon has gotten used to electing a head of state based on internal and external consensus.

Baabda Palace has been vacant since the six-year term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014.

G.K.

D.A.