Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri congratulating President Michel Aoun on Oct. 31, 2016, in Nejmeh Square. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — President Michel Aoun is fighting a rearguard action today. A few weeks before the end of his six-year term, and days before a parliamentary meeting that could elect his successor, the president has his back to the wall, for the reason that while he must theoretically leave office on Oct. 31, his main opponent, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, recently had his term renewed for four more years.Berri seeks to seize from Aoun the last (and almost the only) potential achievement of his term: the conclusion of a maritime border demarcation agreement with Israel — as if his term’s renewal were not exasperating enough.Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is also giving him a hard time. Supported by Berri, Mikati continues to be strong in the tug-of-war over the cabinet formation with the president and his son-in-law and Free Patriotic...
BEIRUT — President Michel Aoun is fighting a rearguard action today. A few weeks before the end of his six-year term, and days before a parliamentary meeting that could elect his successor, the president has his back to the wall, for the reason that while he must theoretically leave office on Oct. 31, his main opponent, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, recently had his term renewed for four more years.Berri seeks to seize from Aoun the last (and almost the only) potential achievement of his term: the conclusion of a maritime border demarcation agreement with Israel — as if his term’s renewal were not exasperating enough.Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is also giving him a hard time. Supported by Berri, Mikati continues to be strong in the tug-of-war over the cabinet formation with the president and his son-in-law and Free...