Berri Threatens to Dissolve Parliament over Upcoming Session Dilemma

Speaker Nabih Berri warned on Wednesday of dissolving the parliament if lawmakers abstained from attending any session that he calls for without having a valid excuse.

Berri lashed out at Kataeb and Free Patriotic Movement MPs, stressing that if “a key component didn't attend the sessions, then he will postpone them.”

“If they insist on paralyzing the parliament, then I will call for dissolving it, in accordance with my jurisdiction,” Berri said in comments published in local newspapers.

He pointed out that as soon as a new president is elected, then he will call on the cabinet to dissolve the parliament according to the Constitution.

Vacuum striking the presidential post is having a tough impact on the cabinet and the parliament as the state is threatened with further crises over ongoing rows between the rival parties.

Berri is seeking to call for a session to approve urgent issues, including the wage scale for the public sector and the food safety draft-law.

Parliament convenes twice a year in two ordinary sessions -- the first starts mid-March until the end of May and the second from the middle of October through the end of December.

On Monday, deputy Speaker Farid Makari said that the majority of the representatives of the parliamentary blocs agreed to attend the upcoming legislative session.

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