MP Michel Mouawad at an event in the Chouf on June 20, 2022. (Credit: Michel Mouawad's Twitter account/@michelmoawad)
BEIRUT — MPs Michel Mouawad (Zgharta), Ashraf Rifi (Tripoli), Adib Abdelmassih (Koura) and Fouad Makhzoumi (Beirut II) announced on Wednesday the birth of their "Independents and Sovereignists" parliamentary bloc.
Here’s what we know:
• Mouawad, who announced the bloc in a press conference that said the incentive for forming such a group of MPs is that “the problem with the opposition is scattered which we experienced during the parliamentary committees’ and the Parliament speaker elections.”
• On May 31, Nabih Berri was reelected as Parliament speaker for the sixth time. The Free Patriotic Movement MP Elias Bou Saab was also elected as Berri’s deputy during the same session.
• Mouawad also said that regarding tomorrow’s binding parliamentary consultations which should result in a designated prime minister that the bloc “will never vote for anyone in the establishment including [caretaker prime minister] Najib Mikati” and “will either vote for Nawaf Salam or put a white vote.”
• Earlier today, Former Future Movement-affiliated MPs announced after their meeting on Wednesday the formation of a new parliamentary bloc, the "National Moderation Bloc." They didn’t reveal who they are going to vote for in tomorrow’s prime minister election.