Berri Warns of Plunging into Further Crises: I Fear Fate of Syria
Speaker Nabih Berri expressed grave dissatisfaction over the ongoing cabinet crisis, expressing fear over the fate of Syria after the attack against Druze in Syria's Qalb Lawzah
“Prime Minister Tammam Salam and I are on the same page,” Berri said in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper Sunday, considering that they are tackling the matter "patiently."
“It is forbidden to freeze the country... we should find a solution to reactivate the government and resume legislation at the parliament so we could resolve the presidential crisis,” the speaker pointed out.
He noted that the presidential vacuum is a priority, saying: “PM Salam and I are keen, more than anyone, to resolve” the crisis.
The presidential vacuum has had a heavy toll on the cabinet and parliament after rival political arch-foes failed to elect a new head of state since the tenure of former President Michel Suleiman ended in May last year.
The government was gripped with a crisis over the controversial appointment of high-ranking security and military officials after Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun bluntly rejected any attempt to extend the terms of the officials.
He has been lobbying for political consensus on the appointment of Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, his son-in-law, as army chief as part of a package for the appointment of other top security officers.
Roukoz's tenure ends in October while the term of army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji expires at the end of September.
Asked about the shoot-out in northwest Idlib province that killed at least 20 members of the country's Druze minority, Berri stressed that the “problem isn't targeting a certain group but the whole Syrian people.”
“I fear the fate f Syria,” the speaker said.
The Idlib killings were the deadliest since Syria's civil war started in March 2011 against the minority Druze sect, which has been split between supporters and opponents of President Bashar Assad — but has largely stayed out of the fighting.
H.K.
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