Report: Berri Had Sought to Guarantee Quorum at Monday's Presidential Polls
Hizbullah announced over the weekend its boycott of Monday's presidential elections session in a step that has gone against the wishes of Speaker Nabih Berri, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.
Sources from the speaker told the daily that he “had sought to ensure the necessary quorum for Monday's meeting, but he was not lucky.”
Berri had relayed his demand to Hizbullah's top security official Wafiq Safa through his advisor Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil.
Hizbullah official Hussein Khalil said on Saturday that the party's lawmakers will only attend Monday's electoral session if an agreement is reached to elect its candidate the founder of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun as president.
“When an agreement is reached on the election of Gen. Aoun as president, then we will be the first to arrive at the parliament to elect him,” said Khalil after a meeting with the MP.
A Hizbullah delegation visited Change and Reform bloc head MP Aoun marking ten years since the party and the FPM signed their Memorandum of Understanding.
Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.
Conflicts between the rival March 8 and March 14 camps have thwarted all attempts at electing a successor.
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea endorsed in January Aoun's bid for the presidency in a landmark deal between the two long-time rivals.
Geagea had said that the endorsement will serve as a “test” for Hizbullah and its commitment to the election of its ally Aoun as president.
The lawmaker is running for the post along with Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, also a member of the March 8 alliance.
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