Berri Appeals for Swift Election of President

Speaker Nabih Berri expected a parliamentary session scheduled to be held on Tuesday to meet the fate of its predecessors and fail in electing a new president.

“No progress has been made so far on an agreement to elect a new head of state,” said Berri in remarks published in al-Joumhouria daily on Monday.

“All the political parties should swiftly agree on the election of a president amid the dangerous developments in the region,” he said.

Asked about reports that some officials were proposing the election of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun for a term of two years, Berri said: “No one has discussed it with me.”

“The Christians won't accept this,” he added.

Presidential candidate Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, who is Aoun's rival, said Sunday that some centrist officials had made the proposal to elect the FPM chief.

But Geagea rejected it outright, saying the six-year term of the president should not be shortened even for a single time.

The parliament has been unable to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman, whose tenure ended in May, over their differences on a compromise candidate.

The MPs of Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and the majority of the March 8 alliance's lawmakers have boycotted the sessions aimed at electing a head of state, causing a lack of quorum.

On recent efforts aimed at reviving the parliament's role, Berri is expected to call for a meeting of the legislature's bureau on Wednesday or Thursday to agree on the agenda of a session.

However, the parliament will only convene after the return of Prime Minister Tammam Salam from New York next week.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper quoted officials as saying that the legislative session would likely be held on Sept. 30 or Oct. 2. The priority will be to discuss the public sector wage scale, as well as issuing Eurobonds, tackling budget-related affairs and the rent law.