Berri clings to dialogue as FPM declares conditional participation

Speaker Nabih Berri is carrying on with his call for dialogue and is awaiting the final stances of the parties, sources from his bloc told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper, while noting that “a large number of blocs have announced their support for the initiative, including Christian parliamentary blocs.”

MP Jimmy Jabbour of the Free Patriotic Movement meanwhile told Radio VDL (93.3) that “the FPM respects the stances of the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party” on rejecting dialogue, but noted that “the only way to reach results is going to dialogue among the Lebanese so that foreign solutions don’t get imposed on them.”

The FPM’s political council meanwhile announced after a meeting that the Movement is “ready to take part in a dialogue that would quickly reach practical results leading to the election of a president.”

“This dialogue should not be traditional, but rather practical and effective, and it can take many bilateral or multi-party forms with its agenda being limited to the presidential term’s program (presidential priorities) and the president’s characteristics and name,” the FPM added.

It however linked its participation to receiving “guarantees that this dialogue would end with open parliamentary sessions for electing the president that would not stop until this election takes place.”

The FPM is “waiting for those who called for this dialogue to give the necessary answers so that the FPM’s final stance can be announced accordingly,” the Movement said.

Berri has called for seven days of dialogue in September after which open sessions would be held for the election of a president.

Lebanon has been without a president since the end of Michel Aoun's term on October 31, 2022. The parliamentary blocs have failed to elect a successor despite holding 11 electoral sessions.