Nabih Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanon Is Headed to Worse Situation if We Don't Immediately Address Crises

 Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)
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Nabih Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Lebanon Is Headed to Worse Situation if We Don't Immediately Address Crises

 Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)
Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri chairs a parliament meeting at the UNESCO Palace in the capital Beirut, on April 21, 2020. (AFP)

Lebanon's parliament Speaker Nabih Berri warned the country would be headed to a worse situation if accumulating crises are not addressed.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said this week is "decisive" in determining the course of events.

He said attention would be focused on the constitutional council's decision over the appeal filed by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) over the parliamentary electoral law.

Officials and parties have been warning against the potential postponement of the elections that are set for March 2022. The Lebanese Forces (LF) has warned that it may take to the streets if the polls are delayed.

Berri noted the "major international interest" in Lebanon holding the elections.

"This is normal and it should also be normal and necessary for us to insist that they are held," he added.

He predicted that the constitutional council will announce its decision on Monday or Tuesday at most.

This in turn, will set in motion a new dynamic in the country regardless of whether the FPM appeal is accepted or not, he continued.

Moreover, Berri said that new efforts are underway to find solutions to problems, but the government crisis is still stalling.

He called for exerting serious efforts to resolve crises endured by the Lebanese people, "otherwise we will be confronted with a worse situation."

On Saturday, LF MP George Okais called on people to be ready to "head to the streets" should the elections be postponed or cancelled.

The elections are a "pivotal" junction and "necessary condition" to introduce change to the ruling authority in Lebanon, he added.

Any change takes place through elections, he remarked.

It is necessary to provide guarantees that the elections will be held, he went on to say.

The corrupt authority should be prevented from usurping the voice of the Lebanese people, urged the MP.

Okais warned against attempts to postpone the parliamentary and presidential elections, which are also set for 2022.

The LF opposes the extension of President Michel Aoun's term, he stressed

Mustaqbal MP Mohammed al-Hajjar warned that some sides are working on obstructing the parliamentary elections.

The movement insists that they be held on time, he stated.

"If they are not held, for whatever reason, then we will resign from parliament," he revealed.

The international community is using all its means to ensure that the polls are held because it wants to change the political class, he added.

Some sides claim that they want the elections be staged, but they are in fact working against them, he noted.

The FPM had on Saturday hoped that the constitutional council would approve its appeal.

The movement said it had appealed "flagrant legal and constitutional flaws" in the electoral law. It hoped the council would accept its appeal over an article that had deprived expatriates of their right to elect six lawmakers who would represent them at parliament.

The FPM stressed that it rejects any concession over these rights and that it deems any obstruction of state institutions as a form of blackmail

Furthermore, the movement had appealed the parliament's recommendation to hold the polls in March instead of May, as has been the case for years.

It also objected against allowing expatriates to vote for the entire 128-member legislature, instead of six seats allotted to them. It explained that such a move goes against a law that had dedicated the six seats to the expatriates. The seats represent all sects and form a new electoral district that is added to the ones designated to citizens residing in Lebanon.



Palestinian President Names Interim Successor If He Has to Leave Post

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
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Palestinian President Names Interim Successor If He Has to Leave Post

FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters in New York, US, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has named a temporary successor who would take over from him should he die or leave his post, addressing concerns of a possible power vacuum following his departure.
In a statement released late on Wednesday, Abbas said the chairman of the Palestinian National Council should serve as interim president for no more than 90 days, during which presidential elections should be held.
The current chairman of the Palestinians' top decision-making body is Rawhi Fattouh, 75, who also served briefly as a stop-gap leader following the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004.
Abbas, 89, has been Palestinian president since 2005 and has had regular health problems in recent years, prompting repeated speculation on who might replace him when he finally stands aside.
He does not have a deputy and a source told Reuters earlier this month that Saudi Arabia had pressed him to appoint one.
Wednesday's announcement clears up uncertainty over what should happen when he dies, but Fattouh was not named as his deputy, meaning there was still no visibility on who might replace Abbas in the long term.
Israel's Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a member of the inner security cabinet, told a group of foreign reporters this week that the Israeli army would take over the West Bank if someone from the militant group Hamas tried to become president.
Abbas was elected to a four-year term in 2005, but no presidential ballot has been held since.