Berri reportedly sends message to al-Rahi about dialogue

Speaker Nabih Berri has sent a message with an envoy to Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, media reports said.

The message included Berri’s “vision regarding the presidential juncture,” the reports added.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper said the patriarch received the message in the last week of August and that it included the roadmap that Berri will follow as of September 1 to implement his “dialogue-electoral initiative” during the second half of September, “should it receive the needed response.”

Berri has called on the heads of parliamentary blocs and political parties to participate in “dialogue in parliament for seven days at the most” before going to “open-ended sessions to elect a president.”

Berri’s call was met by rejection from the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and some opposition MPs.