Newly re-elected Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT – Newly re-elected Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri left Baabda Palace without giving a statement after a meeting with President Michel Aoun on Tuesday afternoon, the state-run National News Agency reported.
Here’s what we know:
• As he left the meeting, Berri gave a curt response to a question from the press about whether he discussed with Aoun the parliamentary consultations to assign a prime minister, saying, “Without a doubt.”
• Newly elected Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab and the Parliament secretaries Alain Aoun and Hadi Abou Hassan also participated in the meeting.
• Berri for the seventh time secured the Parliament speaker seat earlier today with the minimum required votes — 65 — on the first round ballot. It was the lowest ever tally of votes for Berri in a speaker election. He has held the post since 1992.