Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri clarified on Monday why he adjourned the parliamentary session planed on May 29, as he firmly refused the proposal to redistribute parliamentary seats.
In a press conference held in Ain Al-Tineh, Berri hoped that the Lebanese factions will reach a deal on a new electoral law before the next parliamentary session set by the speaker on June 5.
“I am holding this conference to clarify what has been said about my violation of the Constitution,” he said on delaying the May 29 session.
“In form, the Parliament session should have been held today,” he explained, saying that he
contacted President Michel Aoun and MP George Adwan to inform them that he had agreed on the proportional law with Lebanon as 15 districts.
Berri said he did so “in an attempt to bring closer our viewpoints.”
“If they are adamant about the redistribution of parliamentary seats, I will not accept the proposed draft,” the Lebanese speaker said.
He noted that the decree to convene the Parliament in extraordinary session has not been signed yet, adding that the decree is underway.
“The Parliament will keep working to reach agreement over an election law; nobody can pressure the Parliament except for the Lebanese people,” Berri stressed.
“The President of the republic is as keen on the Constitution as I am,” he said, assuring that vacuum “is out of question, to me as well as to the others.”
On the other hand, the speaker vowed to try hard to keep away from the 1960 law and the extension of the Parliament’s mandate.
Berri finally hoped that the election law would be ready on June 5 and “and that we would meet at the Parliament.”
Source: NNA
