Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday condemned the Israeli parliament's adoption of a law defining Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.

In a statement, Berri described the move as “another chapter of the ongoing aggression against Palestine and its people and their legitimate right to return and establish an independent state with holy Jerusalem as its capital.”

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with re-elected Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday evening where they “discussed the general situation in Lebanon and the latest developments on the Palestinian arena,” the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

Parliamentary consultations for the formation of a “broad national unity government” will kick off on Monday, Speaker Nabih Berri announced Thursday after meeting President Michel Aoun in Baabda.

“The government must be formed quickly because the economic situation is pressing,” Berri said, shortly after Saad Hariri was officially tasked with forming a new government.

Famous for his quick wit and shrewd politicking, Hizbullah ally Nabih Berri is returning for a sixth consecutive term as speaker of Lebanon's parliament, making him one of the world's longest-serving legislative chiefs. 

The latest parliamentary elections have plunged the country into a dangerous phase due to the “sectarian incitement” that marred the electoral campaigns, sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri have said, while noting that “there is insistence on overcoming this situation after the polls.”

“The Baabda meeting between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Berri focused on key issues such as the Syrian refugee crisis, the economic situation and the regional situation,” the sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Sunday.

Speaker Nabih Berri made a televised interview on Monday after Sunday’s parliamentary elections, where he advised “big winners” in the polls to derive lessons that “hegemony is useless,” stressing that the “finance ministry will always have a Shiite minister.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has announced that Article 84 of the electoral law, which stipulates the use of magnetic voting cards, will be amended during Thursday's ongoing legislative session.

Authorities have failed to introduce the cards into this year's electoral process under the excuse of pressing deadlines and political disputes.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed Tuesday that voting is a “national duty,” urging a massive turnout in the May parliamentary elections.

President Michel Aoun on Tuesday signed a decree calling Parliament to an extraordinary legislative session from March 13 to March 19, a move described by Speaker Nabih Berri as “unnecessary.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri emphasized Wednesday that Lebanon will not allow Israel to seize control of parts of its offshore oil and gas fields.

“Lebanon's stance is unified and coherent in terms of defending our sovereignty, oil resources and maritime and territorial borders,” Berri said during his weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting with lawmakers.