Report: Berri to call for presidential vote, Safa to meet Bassil

The “countdown” for Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for a presidential election session has started, informed sources quoted a prominent political leader as saying.

“His remarks about June 15 as a deadline are not only aimed at pushing political forces to take decisions, but are also based on several indications and elements,” the sources added, in remarks to ad-Diyar newspaper published Sunday.

“The positive atmosphere as to finalizing things is more serious than ever,” the political leader added.

A prominent parliamentary source from the Shiite Duo meanwhile expressed to ad-Diyar his “relief” over the latest developments, saying that “there is a good and positive foreign atmosphere and an active domestic drive that can be counted on in securing the right circumstances for the election of the president.”

“Speaker Berri is inclined to call for a presidential election session and the other camp must name its candidate,” the source added.

Informed sources meanwhile told the daily that Hezbollah liaison and coordination officer Wafiq Saqa will meet next week in Sin el-Fil with Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.