Berri calls Parliament meeting next Monday

The head of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, on Wednesday called the members of the Parliament to a meeting next Monday at noon, according to the Parliament Speaker's press office. Such meetings are usually held to decide on the agenda for an upcoming plenary session.

While it is not yet known what bills or proposals may be added to the agenda, the meeting comes at a time when Berri is currently in charge of leading negotiations, on behalf of Lebanon, for a possible cease-fire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel.

In this context, some of the opposition criticized Berri's role as mediator. Among them, the Takaddom party, co-founded by opposition MPs Mark Daou, Michel Doueihy and Waddah Sadek, denounced the fact that Berri represents in these negotiations “the interests of Hezbollah and its Iranian extension,” according to a party statement published by the official National News Agency (NNA). In this context, the parliamentary bloc called on Berri to “immediately convene a plenary session to inform the Lebanese deputies of the content of the draft cease-fire and to debate it.”

As a reminder, the last parliamentary session convened by the head of the Legislative Assembly to elect the members of the Parliament and the various commissions was adjourned on Oct. 22 for lack of quorum. In particular, the Parliament is expected to rule, before January, on the extension of the mandates of the heads of the military security forces, namely the Commander of the Army, the Director General of the Internal Security Forces and the Director General of General Security.