Gemayel to Berri: Parliament is not your property

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel on Friday rejected Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for dialogue that would precede open sessions for the election of a president.

“The proposal to hold successive sessions to elect a president on the condition that we participate in dialogue is an acknowledgment that you were deliberately violating the constitution and that all the excuses that you were using are invalid,” Gemayel said in a post on the X social media platform.

“The implementation of the constitution is not a political blackmail card. Parliament in not your property; it belongs to the Lebanese people,” Gemayel added.

Berri called Thursday on political blocs to engage in dialogue in September to elect a president, a vacancy that has been unfilled for 10 months.

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

"I call on the leaders and representatives of the parliamentary blocs to take part in a dialogue in parliament in September, for a period not exceeding seven days, following which open sessions would be held... to achieve the election of a president," Berri said.

The speaker, whose Amal Movement is closely aligned with Hezbollah, said he was making the appeal "before it is too late."

Berri has so far refused requests from members of the anti-Hezbollah camp to hold open sessions until a president is elected.

The blocs opposed to Hezbollah and its allies have refused to take part in talks to agree on a head of state before proceeding with a vote, preferring to rely on the democratic process.