BEIRUT — Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri expressed optimism on Monday about the election of a Lebanese president during the session scheduled for Jan. 9, according to local media outlets.

"The atmosphere is good," Berri said in response to a journalist's question in Ain al-Tineh.

Asked about whether a president will be elected on Jan. 9, he replied: "God willing, there will be a president."

According to the NNA, Berri met in Ain al-Tineh with presidential candidate Neemat Frem, who also expressed hope that a president will be elected in the beginning of the new year.

"God willing, in the beginning of the new year, a president who prioritizes Lebanon above all and focuses on the well-being of its people will be elected", he said after the meeting.

Frem added that he discussed his project for the presidency with Berri in addition to the role of the president in implementing the cease-fire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel and how to provide it with political cover.

"The main role of the President is to rebuild the Lebanese state institutions that are returning from a very difficult place and how we can create a new dynamic in Lebanon because the main challenge is how to create trust between the citizen and the country and how to provide services to the citizen, from electricity to water to social services and social protection", he said.

Responding to a question on whether there is an obstacle aiming to postpone the Jan. 9 session until after the new U.S. administration takes office, Frem replied: “This may be true, but I emphasize, as I understood from Berri and as I noticed from the parliamentary blocs, there is an insistence on the session."

Frem added that Berri mentioned the Vatican model which consists of MPs entering the session and not leaving it before electing a president.

Moreover, Frem stressed that "everyone must push for convergence towards the number of candidates and there must be determination to elect a president in this session."

When asked about his chances of becoming the next president, he said that his name remained in consideration over the past two years and that the "light grows little by little."

"The important thing is that tomorrow is better than today and today is better than yesterday", he said adding that at the time he announced his candidacy, his chances of success were already "present and high."

Finally, he said that he did not directly consult with the ambassadors of the quintet before running and that there is no ‘veto’ on his candidacy from abroad.

The quintet is a group involved in the Lebanese presidential file comprising the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt.

Frem also said that the meeting was "very important, especially at this stage, not only at the level of the presidential elections ... but because we are facing a new page and a new dawn at the level of the region."

Finally, he thanked Berri for his efforts that led to the cease-fire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel.

"We thank [Berri] because he is establishing a new era, the era of the Lebanese state that is the master of itself, a stable state capable of making its own decisions and capable of rebuilding the country in every sense of the word."

Lebanon has been without a president for more than two years as several electoral sessions failed to elect a new one. On Nov. 28, Berri announced the session scheduled for Jan. 9 after refraining from calling for a new session for more than a year.