Berri Ultimatum: ‘No Dialogue, No President’

“Without dialogue, there will be no president,” said Speaker Nabih Berri, as reported by the pro-Hezbollah newspaper al-Akhbar.

On Friday, the daily quoted Berri saying that “it’s much easier today” since all parties, except the Lebanese Forces, have agreed to join his dialogue initiative, including the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).

“MP and FPM leader Jebran Bassil has finally expressed support for dialogue after initially refusing it. Although he opposes the election of Suleiman Franjieh, the Marada leader and Hezbollah and Amal’s presidential candidate, this hasn’t stopped him from committing to the dialogue,” Berri told al-Akhbar, reaffirming his support for Franjieh.

Berri explained that the dialogue would span ten days, during which parties would either agree on a single candidate or propose multiple candidates, leading to a parliamentary vote. “On the tenth day, we will have a President,” he promised.

Sixteen MPs, specifically the heads of the parliamentary blocs rather than the party leaders, would be invited to the dialogue, Berri added.

On Thursday, LF leader Samir Geagea commented on Berri’s initiative, drawing a parallel to events in France. French parliamentarians at the National Assembly re-elected a speaker after three rounds of voting.

“I hope you noticed how voting at the National Assembly was conducted in an open session with successive rounds,” Geagea told Berri, seemingly criticizing him for not calling a session and his camp’s MPs for leaving previous sessions before the second round of voting.