Opposition MPs during a press briefing in the Parliament, July 1, 2024. (Credit: Ali Fawaz/Lebanese Parliament)
The group of 31 opposition MPs, which includes the Lebanese Forces (LF), the Kataeb party, independents and protest MPs, responded to the call for "dialogue and consultations" launched by Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri around the presidential election, by insisting on holding an "open" electoral session with several successive rounds until a new head of state is elected.
In a speech on Saturday, Berri tried to revitalize his call for dialogue, launched a year ago, which would aim to elect a president "as soon as possible and without veto."
"Come tomorrow for consultations in Parliament to succeed in electing the unifying president that Lebanon and its people deserve at this critical moment in their history," he stated.
In a statement released Saturday evening, the 31 MPs recalled their initiative, launched last July, which includes two proposals.
The first is to organize 48-hour "informal consultations," without any form of "institutionalization," intending to hold the vote in an open session of Parliament. This initiative was in opposition to Berri who wants a dialogue under his leadership. The second proposal provides for holding an open electoral session, where consultations between the parliamentary blocs would take place between each round of voting.
"The Amal and Hezbollah blocs have rejected" the consultations that we had proposed, we can read in the opposition statement. "In any case, we reiterate our commitment to consult all parliamentary groups and MPs to put an end to the presidential vacuum," stated the opposition, which once again called for the convening of an "open session, starting after a first round of consultations, and followed by successive votes, with a quorum that must be maintained by all parties."
During previous electoral sessions, MPs from the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, who support the candidacy of the leader of the Marada Movement Sleiman Frangieh in the presidential election, left Parliament after the first round of voting, causing a lack of quorum.
The Lebanese Forces and their leader Samir Geagea regularly accuse the Amal Movement and Hezbollah of calling for dialogue but of refusing any choice other than that of Frangieh and believe that Berri's insistence on preliminary consultations before a vote on a candidate who ultimately achieves consensus would amount to removing any democratic character from the election.
This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.
