Bassil to meet Berri Monday in bid to break presidential impasse

Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil will visit Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday, a local newspaper and an FPM MP said.

Pro-Hezbollah daily al-Akhbar reported Friday that Bassil will present to Berri a suggestion for the presidential consultations and dialogue.

"It comes within the FPM efforts to break the presidential impasse," FPM lawmaker Salim Aoun said in an interview.

"Jebran is better than the others,” Berri said two weeks ago after he met Bassil, adding that the latter supported consensus and a dialogue chaired by Berri.

The remarks provoked Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea who was quoted as saying that "birds of a feather flock together”.

Bassil had begun a tour on Lebanese leaders earlier this month in a bid to end the presidential impasse. He met with Berri, Tripoli MP Faisal Karami, and opposition lawmakers including Lebanese Forces and Kataeb MPs.

After his meeting with Berri, Bassil called for dialogue or consultations, followed by open electoral sessions.

Geagea opposes a dialogue chaired by Berri.

Crisis-hit Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term ended in October 2022, with neither of the two main blocs -- Hezbollah and its opponents -- having the majority required to elect one.

On June 14 last year, lawmakers failed for the 12th time to elect a president as candidates Jihad Azour and Suleiman Franjieh both failed to get across the line in the 128-seat parliament.