Lebanese Forces criticizes Berri's proposal to chair all presidential election talks

BEIRUT — The Lebanese Forces (LF) have criticized Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri’s declaration that he is ready to preside over any discussion aimed at solving the presidential deadlock, "in person and without preconditions."

In comments made to the pan-Arab daily al-Shark al-Awsat, the LF accused the head of Parliament of patronizing MPs and said it asked only one thing: “To organize an open electoral session with successive rounds of voting, until a president is elected.”

Another of its criticisms against Berri’s proposal was that the process meant that all constitutional milestones, “from the presidential election to the appointment of a prime minister and the formation of a government,” will pass by Berri’s desk, which the LF claim is contrary to the Constitution “and the national pact, and which no one will accept.”

Berri’s proposal implies, the LF argued, that the parliamentary blocs do not have the freedom to meet among themselves.

"Mr. Berry's proposal implies that the parliamentary blocs do not have the freedom to meet among themselves", the LFs further denounced, in a criticism of the parliamentary leader's remarks.

Relaunching discussions on the presidential election

Berri, head of the Amal Movement, which is allied with Hezbollah, told al-Shark al-Awsat that he was volunteering himself to chair, “without any preconditions,” the General Secretariat of Parliament, which is responsible for issuing invitations to parliamentary groups to take part in discussions.

Berri had held a meeting earlier with the National Moderation parliamentary bloc, made up of mostly Sunni ex-Haririans, which had been holding its own discussions with several parliamentary blocs in the country over the past week in the hopes of reinvigorating the presidential election process.

"We hope that meeting around a discussion table will enable us to agree on a candidate,” Berri said. “The exceptional conditions in which Lebanon finds itself call on us to put an end to the presidential vacancy as soon as possible.”

Lebanon has been without a head of state since October 2022, when Michel Aoun's term came to an end. Since then, 12 parliamentary sessions to elect a successor have all failed to do so, due to a lack of political consensus. Opponents of the allied Hezbollah and Amal Movement denounce the Shi’ite tandem’s desire to impose a national dialogue prior to the election of a president.

"Serious discussions are taking place behind the scenes and have never stopped, but they have not been successful because of the moumanaa's [the name given to the tandem’s supporters] insistence on this unconstitutional dialogue table," the Lebanese Forces stated. The party added that it also felt Berri’s approach jeopardized the National Moderation initiative.