Berri Postpones Parliamentary Session after Meeting Miqati

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed on Thursday a parliamentary session set for Nov. 7 after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati to guarantee the participation of all parties.

The speaker said a new date for the plenary session will be set at a later time.

Berri said in comments published Wednesday that he would suspend the session in the event the March 14 opposition alliance decided to boycott it.

Miqati told reporters following the meeting he held with Berri in Ain el-Tineh that the March 14 coalition has been demanding the cabinet to step down since day one.

But “we can only respond by increasing productivity,” he said.

Demands for the resignation of the government should lead to a solution and not become a slogan for a new crisis that would shove Lebanon into a vacuum, Miqati added.

The opposition has been accusing Miqati's cabinet of failing to provide stability and security and blaming it for covering up the Oct. 19 assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.