ANSD : Berri says answers are there to resolve Sunni MPs issue

TUE 26 - 11 - 2024

Date: Nov 19, 2018
Source: The Daily Star

Berri says answers are there to resolve Sunni MPs issue

BEIRUT: Resolving the issue posed by a group of Hezbollah-backed Sunni MPs seeking representation in the next government is not far fetched, Speaker Nabih Berri was quoted as saying in remarks published Monday.

But despite this window of optimism, Berri told local daily Al Joumhouria that he was not aware of any new developments in finding a solution to the obstacle.

“The solutions are not missing,” the speaker said. “There is a possibility of reaching a solution soon, on the condition that there are true intentions to reach this solution.”

However, Berri said he could not personally facilitate resolving the issue, as he had exhausted all means of comprise in helping resolve past obstacles in the government formation process.

“I already sacrificed a lot,” he said. “What more is required from me?”

The issue of representing the six Hezbollah-backed Sunni lawmakers from outside Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri’s Future Movement has put the government formation on hold, with Hariri vehemently opposed to ceding them a Cabinet seat from his own share.

Upon the request of President Michel Aoun, caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has been holding talks with various sides in an attempt to resolve the issue.

Bassil has held talks with Berri, as well as Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Joumblatt, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai.

Bassil is calling for a compromise Sunni candidate to be named as a minister in the new Cabinet, an initiative that has been supported by Berri. The candidate would be part of Aoun’s share and acceptable to both the six MPs and Hariri.

Grand mufti hits back at Nasrallah, affirms support for Hariri

BEIRUT: Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Latif Derian said in a televised news conference Monday that nobody can force conditions on the government formation process, in an implicit jab at Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.

In an address marking the Prophet Mohammad's Birthday, which will be observed Tuesday, the Sunni religious leader reiterated Dar al-Fatwa’s support for Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, whose efforts to form a government have been stymied by a demand from six pro-Hezbollah Sunni MPs for representation in the next Cabinet.

“The designated prime minister forms the government in cooperation with the president,” Derian said in the speech. “It is not acceptable for any political side to force conditions on [them], except for expressing hope or making suggestions,” he added, indirectly referring to Nasrallah.

During a speech on Nov. 10, Narallah warned that if the six Sunni MPs’ demand for Cabinet representation is not met, the government formation process will have to begin again from scratch.

“If they will not be represented,” Nasrallah said in televised remarks, “we should start all over again.”

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