Report: Berri to Return the 'Favor' and Name Hariri

Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to “return the favor” and announce his support for al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri for the post of premiership, after some positive signals that Hariri had received in that regard.

Mustaqbal sources ruled out the possibility that the Speaker could lead a “retaliatory” attempt to disrupt the formation of the government, the daily al-Akhbar said.

“The man knows that political life in Lebanon is a lend and borrow thing,” said the Mustaqbal sources, adding “there are several common issues between us two. Mustaqbal was the first to support the national dialogue table that Speaker Berri had sponsored, including the bilateral dialogue between Hizbullah and Mustaqbal. Similarly, we were the first to support his proposal on necessary legislation and to attend the whole election sessions because of our belief in the inadmissibility of obstruction...thus the Speaker will not offset our favor with denial.”

On the other hand, sources close to Hariri told As Safir daily that a meeting recently between Nader Hariri, the adviser of the Mustaqbal Movement leader and AMAL Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, “has thwarted many obstacles.”

“We are still working on shortening the distance between us and Berri. We believe that any obstruction attempt will be in the face of the presidential stage as a whole not only in the face of Hariri,” the sources told As Safir.

There are fears that Berri's deputies of the Development and Liberation parliamentary bloc could abstain from naming Hariri for the post of premiership during the binding parliamentary consultations with the newly elected president.

On Wednesday, Hariri received 86 votes on first day of consultations that will continue on Thursday where several blocs, including Berri's, are to name their candidate for the premiership.

On Monday, Aoun was elected president of the republic. His election ended a presidential void that lasted around two and a half years. His chances were largely boosted by a key endorsement from Hariri in mid-October.

Berri did not support the election of Aoun and his deputies did not in his favor during the election session.

Analysts have warned that Aoun's election will not be a "magic wand" for Lebanon, which has seen longstanding political divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria and has struggled to deal with an influx of more than a million Syrian refugees.

In addition to pledges of economic growth and security, Aoun said in his oath of office that Lebanon must work to ensure Syrian refugees "can return quickly" to their country.

Aoun also pledged to endorse an "independent foreign policy" and to protect Lebanon from "the fires burning across the region."