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PARLIAMENT

Berri thanks supporters and detractors in Parliament speaker victory speech

Berri thanks supporters and detractors in Parliament speaker victory speech

Newly re-elected Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during his victory speech in Parliament, May 31, 2022. (Credit: Screengrab/NNA)

BEIRUT — Newly re-elected Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after winning the minimum majority vote on Tuesday, thanked those who voted for him and those who didn't, saying he “will meet every white paper [blank vote] with a white heart.”

Here’s what we know:

    • Berri advised all MPs and parliamentary blocs to realize the magnitude of the “challenges” facing them, at a time when they will not have the “luxury” of maneuvering, especially since the weapon of “disruption” available in their hands will only lead to a "major crime" against the homeland, which is "dying."

    • He then addressed the deputies by saying: “Let us be 128 yeses to the completion of the constitutional benefits on time, 128 noes to a void in any authority, 128 bold and unequivocal yeses to the transition in Lebanon from the state of sects and quotas to a state of citizenship, equality and equal opportunities, and a civil state, and 128 yeses to an explicit, strong and united one against any compromising of Lebanon’s sovereign rights in its water and oil wealth, and 128 noes to concessions, bargaining or normalization, even an iota of these riches under any circumstances and no matter what the pressures may be.

    • “Ladies and gentlemen.. colleagues, honorable audience.. Thanks to the deputies who elected me.. Also, thanks to the fellow deputies who opposed my election as Parliament speaker, whether by voting no, with a white [blank] paper, or by choosing a name outside the usual context,” the newly re-elected speaker said.

    • Berri said he will throw behind him every offense and that he will meet the white papers with “a white heart and sincere intention, and a hand extended to all for sincere cooperation in order to save Lebanon.”

BEIRUT — Newly re-elected Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after winning the minimum majority vote on Tuesday, thanked those who voted for him and those who didn't, saying he “will meet every white paper [blank vote] with a white heart.” Here’s what we know:    • Berri advised all MPs and parliamentary blocs to realize the magnitude of the “challenges” facing them, at a...