Berri: Legislative session boycott 'not an achievement'

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri considered that the boycott of a legislative session on Tuesday was not an achievement but an "illusion of victory" as the laws that were to be discussed in the session were not "for his personal interest" but for the public benefit.

"If they don't want to pass the laws, then so much the worse for them," the Speaker told local al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The session on Tuesday was adjourned due to lack of quorum, after the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb Party and their allies boycotted it in rejection of Berri’s refusal to put on the agenda a bill allowing expats to vote for all 128 seas in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

The LF had said that participation in the session would be a “submission" to "Berri’s hegemony over parliament" and a "crime against hundreds of thousands of Lebanese expat."

The current electoral law only allows expats to vote for six newly-introduced seats in parliament. Sixty-five MPs are demanding to amend the law in order to allow expats to vote for all 128 seats.

Hezbollah and Amal argue that they do not enjoy the same campaigning freedom that other parties enjoy abroad and are objecting against the possible amendment.