Berri: Oil Exploration Will be the Priority of the Next Cabinet

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated the need to speed up the cabinet formation process and said “it wasn’t acceptable to waste more time anymore.”

In remarks to An Nahar and As Safir dailies published Wednesday, Berri called for dealing with the daily problems of the Lebanese, including social and economic issues, away from the political bickering.

Berri criticized the government’s inability to make any progress on the oil exploration issue, pointing out that Syria began preparing for bidding and Israel already made a second agreement with Cyprus.

“Oil exploration is the victim of the current political vacuum,” he said.

He stressed on the importance of starting the bidding for an oil exploration company even during the caretaker cabinet, not wasting more time and protecting “our natural resources from Israel.”

“This issue would of course be among the priorities of the next cabinet,” the speaker said.