Berri to Call for Dialogue in September, Urges Protesters to Demand 'Civil State, Electoral Law'
Speaker Nabih Berri revealed Sunday that he intends to call for a dialogue conference in September, as he urged anti-corruption protesters to demand a “civil state” and a new electoral law based on the proportional representation system.
“In the first third of September, I will call for a dialogue limited to (Prime Minister) Tammam Salam and the heads of parliamentary blocs,” said Berri in Nabatiyeh, where he delivered a speech marking the 37th anniversary of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr, the founder of the AMAL Movement which Berri currently heads.
“In form, it won't be any different from the 2006 dialogue, but it will be different in content. The agenda will tackle the presidency, the work of the parliament and the government, the electoral law, the law on restoring citizenship (for emigrants of Lebanese origin), the administrative decentralization project, and equipping the army,” Berri explained.
Separately, the parliament speaker said he will not “bargain over the people-army-resistance choice.”
“Either legislation or the chaos whose signs we have started to witness,” added Berri, referring to the recent anti-corruption protests.
“I'm afraid that we're growing accustomed to our woes that are the result of paralyzing the lives of citizens amid a continued presidential vacuum, suspension of legislation and a governmental confusion,” he lamented.
However, Berri stressed his keenness on the survival of the embattled government and “the activation of its work so that it can respond to the legitimate demands.”
“The presence of the government is a national necessity and attack on legislation is an attack on the people and their representatives … Change has a single door: the parliament,” the speaker added.
He noted that the parliament is not for Shiites, the government is not for Sunnis and the presidency is not for Maronites.
“State institutions are for entire Lebanon.”
“All these crises have pushed Lebanon's citizens to stage protests and they are right … I tell every honest demonstrator that the problem is in this system … The first problem is sectarianism and the other is deprivation and there can't be reform without abolishing sectarianism,” Berri said.
He reminded that as Speaker, he tried “three times” to establish the so-called National Commission for the Abolition of Political Sectarianism and to “merely devise its mechanism.”
“This sectarianism was always stronger than me and my will. Dear brothers, demand a civil state and an electoral law based on proportional representation,” Berri added, addressing the activists of the You Stink campaign and other groups.
He also noted that the country managed to thwart sectarian strife through “the open dialogue between our brothers in Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal in Ain el-Tineh.”
Berri's remarks come a day after tens of thousands of protesters from across Lebanon staged a rare non-sectarian mass rally in downtown Beirut against a political class they accuse of corruption and failing to provide basic services.
It followed demonstrations last weekend that descended into violence when some protesters clashed with police.
The demonstration was organized by the "You Stink" movement, which began in response to a crisis that started with the closure of Lebanon's largest landfill in mid-July, resulting in garbage piling up on the streets of the country.
Since then there have been small protests that have broadened to include demands for a political overhaul of government institutions seen as corrupt and ineffective by many Lebanese.
Y.R.
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