Berri urges election of 'unifying president' after talks in parliament

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the presidential file is “a domestic constitutional juncture that has nothing to do with the situations related to the Israeli aggression, whether in Gaza or in the Lebanese south.”

“We were the first to call … for all political and parliamentary parties to seize the current moment that the region is going through in order to finalize the presidential juncture as soon as possible, under the constitution’s ceiling and through consultations among everyone, without dictations or vetoes on anyone,” Berri said in a speech marking the 46th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his two companions.

“Today we reiterate what we had proposed last year on August 31, which is an open call for dialogue or consultations, for several days followed by successive (electoral) rounds,” Berri added, noting that the parties would agree that none of them would strip the session of its quorum.

He added that Lebanon and the Lebanese “deserve a unifying president in this critical moment of Lebanon’s history.”