Berri Reiterates Call for 'Agreement on Several Issues'

W460

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated Wednesday that “an agreement over several issues is the gateway to reaching a comprehensive solution that begins with the presidency.”

Berri voiced his remarks during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at his Ain el-Tineh residence.

“Until now, he does not have anything to say about what is being raised regarding the presidency or the latest drive,” MPs quoted Berri as saying.

Earlier in the day, the speaker adjourned a presidential election session to October 31 over lack of quorum.

A wave of speculation had preceded Wednesday's session after ex-PM Saad Hariri's return to Lebanon on Saturday triggered a flurry of rumors and media reports that the ex-PM had finally decided to endorse Free Patriotic Movement founder MP Michel Aoun for the presidency in a bid to break the deadlock.

Al-Jadeed television reported Tuesday that Berri “is saying that the vacuum will continue unless the parties agree on a package deal.”

“The presidential settlement is not ripe yet,” Ain el-Tineh sources told the TV network.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Hariri's move prompted Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea to endorse the nomination of Aoun, his long-time Christian rival, after months of political rapprochement talks between their two parties.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Berri has recently called for a so-called “package deal” involving agreements over the presidency, the next government and the electoral law.

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