Circus in parliament: Berri insults Qaaqour, MP slams 'roaches', Khazen rejects use of 'patriarchal'

Slurs flew as parliament witnessed several heated exchanges between MPs during Tuesday’s legislative session.

At the beginning of the session, the so-called ‘change MPs’ demanded that lawmakers vote verbally through their microphones and not by raising their hands, which prompted Speaker Nabih Berri to accept the suggestion.

MP Halima Qaaqour however interrupted the voting and decried “not being able to know who voted for this article and who voted against it.”

“Sit down, wait till the end and be quiet,” Berri told Qaaqour at that point, to which she responded: “This is a patriarchal response!”

Qaaqour’s use of the word ‘patriarchal’ infuriated some MPs, who considered it an insult to the Maronite patriarchate in Bkirki.

“This is not a way to respond in, you have to respect those present here,” MP Qabalan Qabalan shouted at Qaaqour, who repeated the word at that moment.

MP Farid al-Khazen meanwhile intervened addressing Qaaqour. “I reject the use of the word ‘patriarchal’. You can use the word sultanic or imperial,” Khazen added. Berri then agreed to a suggestion from Khazen to drop the word ‘patriarchal’ from the session’s records.

MP Paula Yacoubian meanwhile stepped in defending Qaaqour, decrying that her colleague was told to shut up while being prevented from saying the phrase ‘patriarchal approach’.

“A patriarchal approach means an authoritative approach,” Yacoubian explained.

And as MP Alain Aoun interfered to ask Qaaqour to “calm down,” MP Cynthia Zarazir stood up for her colleague, prompting Qabalan to make fun of the latter’s family name and slam the three female MPs as “cockroaches.”

Yacoubian then asked Berri how could he allow such expressions in the session, which pushed Qabalan to insist on his insult.

Commenting on the commotion, Berri said: “Some people have come here to stir problems and some people do not want this session to be completed.”