Report: Berri Told Aoun 'I Will not Vote for You'

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Speaker Nabih Berri told presidential hopeful MP Michel Aoun that he will not deprive the upcoming parliament session to elect a president from quorum, but “I will vote against you” in the upcoming elections, an Nahar daily reported on Saturday.

Despite the friendliness that Berri tried to emanate in front of the media cameras during Aoun's visit in Ain el-Tineh, but the Speaker has assured Aoun during their closed meeting talks that he will not vote in his favor, added the daily.

“I am against you and I will vote against you. You know that the issue of quorum is in my pocket, but I will not play this card and I will go to the parliament and vote against you,” the daily quoted the Speaker as saying.

On Thursday, Berri received Aoun shortly after the latter was endorsed by al-Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri for Lebanon's top state post.

Hariri had formally announced his endorsement of Aoun for the presidency earlier in the evening after his previous support for the presidential nomination of Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

Berri has openly announced that he will not vote for Aoun in any presidential election session and some officials of his AMAL Movement have accused Aoun and Hariri of seeking a bilateral agreement that would marginalize Shiites in power, allegations that Aoun and his movement have denied.

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.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid have argued 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.

SourceNaharnet
Comments 7
Default-user-icon kazan (Guest) 22 October 2016, 10:19

Lebanon has one ,only one major problem : "the population is not united and do not act as one nation" , and many ,many side effect problems derived from the main one.
Since the independence of Lebanon ,politicians for own opportunist interests, tackled only the side effect problems. First step to create a nation is equality and justice for all its people; in order to facilitate this step, disconnection religion from politics is a must.

Thumb EagleDawn 22 October 2016, 10:31

"You know that the issue of quorum is in my pocket, but I will not play this card "

not only the quorum is in your pocket ya Berri, but the whole country.

Missing humble 22 October 2016, 10:52

A friend living in Paris told me he saw on Israeli TV an emission about Aoun which seemed quite favorable towards Aoun becoming president. Interesting to know that the ally of Ebola could possibly be an ally to Israel?

Default-user-icon A Templar (Guest) 22 October 2016, 14:59

Also, the Egyptians, Saudis, Qataris, Emiratis, Iranians and the Palestinians are among many Arab states and groups who shook hands with Israelis.

Missing humble 22 October 2016, 11:01

Caporal would not be the first psycopath mareedman to become president. History is filled with examples such as Hitler, Staline, Chavez or current Kim Jung Un of North Korea...

Thumb ashtah 22 October 2016, 11:19

khamanei, khomeini, nassrallah?

Thumb farsical.resistance 22 October 2016, 22:22

What an incredible guy this Michel Aoun is, amongst his many brilliant accomplishments he invented the selfie and he did this even before Al Gore invented the internet!!