Berri's dialogue divides parties between supporters and opposers

Will political blocs engage in dialogue to elect a president before the end of September? While Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is reportedly cautious yet optimistic, some parties have lauded his initiative and others have rejected it.

The Speaker had called for a seven-day dialogue, following which open presidential election sessions would be held.

Free Patriotic chief Jebran Bassil praised the initiative. So did Democratic Gathering bloc leader Taymour Jumblat.

"It is better to stop wasting time and to engage in a serious dialogue," Jumblat said Monday on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The largely-Sunni National Moderation bloc also said it would engage in September's dialogue as the bloc MPs met Berri Tuesday in Ain el-Tineh.

Pro-Hezbollah al-Akhbar newspaper reported Tuesday that Saudi Ambassador Walid Bukhari supported Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's stance regarding the dialogue as they met Monday and discussed it. Al-Rahi had said that dialogue should be held "without prejudgments" and without imposing ideas, projects and viewpoints.

Meanwhile, al-Kataeb and the Lebanese Forces parties are preparing a unified response that might embarrass al-Rahi, the FPM and French envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian who had called for a dialogue in September, the daily said.

The LF called for the implementation of the constitution and said, in a statement, that according to the constitution, a president is elected through voting and not through dialogue.

The statement came after LF leader Samir Geagea and Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel both rejected Berri’s call for dialogue. Gemayel said the opposition will confront what he called “Hezbollah’s coup” and Geagea accused Berri and Hezbollah of trying to strangle the opposition through dialogue.

"They invite you to dialogue to strangle you and kill you or to stifle your principles, beliefs and freedom and force you to do what they want," Geagea said.