Berri Balances Confrontation in Defense of Parliament, Amendment of Flaws

Speaker Nabih Berri has rejected accusations by al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora that he was seeking to impose the rule of the parliament on the rest of top institutions in Lebanon, saying he would not allow anyone to paralyze the functions of the legislature.

“It is not natural and it is unacceptable for the legislative authority to become the captive of the mood of the prime minister no matter who he is,” Berri told As Safir newspaper published on Tuesday.

He rejected the fact that “the resignation would paralyze the parliament in addition to more than 30 official institutions linked to the premiership.”

Berri's remarks came after Saniora accused him of taking advantage of the vacuum left by the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government to practice a “parliamentary power.”

Al-Mustaqbal and the rest of the March 14 alliance's MPs have been boycotting parliamentary sessions that Berri has been calling for, leading to a lack of quorum.

The sessions have 45 items on the agenda. But al-Mustaqbal claims that the parliament should only convene for emergency issues amid a resigned cabinet.

“Even if my father came out of his grave to become a prime minister and then quit, I would not allow him to paralyze the activity of the parliament,” Berri told As Safir.

Berri denied that he was equating the parliament with his seat, saying his critics should not deal with the parliament's role based on their stance from him.

He said the same applied to the premiership. “If Saad Hariri or Fouad Saniora or Najib Miqati were prime ministers, this did not mean that the entire cabinet would be characterized by the person who led it.”

Asked whether he agreed with a proposal made by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to amend the constitution and include a deadline for the formation of a cabinet, Berri said: “The flaw does not stop here.”

“There are a lot of things linked to the parliament that should be amended as well,” he said, giving one example of how a lawmaker, who is absent from parliament for the entire four years, continues to receive his salary.

Going back to the failure of Premier-designate Tammam Salam to form his government since his appointment in April, Berri asked: “Is it possible that there isn't any text that imposes a timeframe for the formation of the cabinet at a time when the PM-designate is compelled to come up with a policy statement and refer it to parliament in a one-month deadline after putting together his government?

Berri said that the loopholes in the constitution and in laws would only appear through practice but “we should have the guts to rectify and correct them at the appropriate time.”