Berri Vows to Pursue People's Interest Regarding Legislation

Speaker Nabih Berri is still awaiting a response from the political powers regarding his proposal to hold a legislative session, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper.

He said, according to his visitors on Friday: “The ball is now in the court of the political forces.”

“I hope to receive positive answers to my proposal. If not, then I will do whatever the people's interests demand,” he pledged.

Berri has tasked his advisers to contact Christian parties to bridge the gap on the initiative he launched at the national dialogue table on “necessary legislation,” media reports said on Friday.

The speaker proposed before the national dialogue that the parliament bureau place the agenda of the parliamentary legislative session.

The agenda will include the parliamentary electoral 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.

But the absence of a president since the end of President Michel Suleiman’s term in May 2014 has paralyzed the parliament and led to wrangling among cabinet ministers.

The differences between the different parties also worsened in the past month when they started exchanging accusations of corruption following several scandals that rocked the country.