Berri calls on Parliament to elect next president on time, avoid executive ‘vacuum’

BEIRUT — Parliament Speaker and Amal Movement head Nabih Berri called on members of Parliament Wednesday to guarantee the successful election of a new president, two months before the current head of state Michel Aoun’s term ends.

Speaking in front of thousands of people in Sour on Wednesday during the 44th commemoration of Amal Movement founder Imam Musa al-Sadr’s disappearance, Berri accused unnamed political figures of “tampering with the Constitution in order to serve the ambitions of one candidate or another” amid the election for the country’s next president.

“It is up to Parliament to interpret the Constitution and define the timing of the election of the president,” Berri said.

Read more:

As the presidential election period begins, focus turns to the future cabinet

Current President Michel Aoun’s six-year term ends on Oct. 31, while the presidential election period for his successor began Wednesday.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Gebran Bassil proposed an amendment to the Constitution in February so that the head of state would be elected by a general election, rather than via the current process of voting by Parliament. "We do not intend to submit to the wishes of some who want to make the country fall into the vacuum cycle,” Berri added

Lebanon’s government is currently in caretaker mode following the 2022 parliamentary elections. Although Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was elected Prime Minister-designate by Parliament on June 23, a government is yet to be formed, raising fears of an executive power vacuum.

Berri has been Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker since 1992.