BEIRUT: Future MP Ahmad Fatfat accused Speaker Nabih Berri Thursday of using principled satements to hide his support for Parliament extension, making a veiled threat to not support Berri for another term as Speaker.
“ Speaker Nabih Berri is simply the one who wants extension and I am convinced of that,” Fatfat told Radio Orient in a morning interview, saying Berri merely wanted to earn the credit for holding on to democratic principles.
“Berri is maneuvering, and he is a skilled maneuverer,” Fatfat added, saying the Future Movement did not believe in making “populist” stands if they are not for the general interest of the country.
Asked about former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s statement Wednesday that ruled out Parliament polls before a president is elected, Fatfat said this had always been the Future Movement’s position.
“The stand is not new, and we have announced since the very first moment that we oppose any parliamentary elections if not preceded by presidential elections,” he said. “This is for purely constitutional reasons.”
Fatfat explained that if the Parliament were changed, there will be void on the level of the presidency and also “maybe” on the level of the Parliament speaker. This, according to Fatfat, will leave the country without two of the three authorities’ chiefs.
“Holding the elections without holding presidential elections will thus lead us toward vacuum and not the opposite,” he said.
Fatfat’s mention of a possible change in the speaker post is uncommon for the Future Movement, and suggests a possible deadlock after a new Parliament is elected. Future’s Christian allies, the Kataeb Party and the Lebanese Forces, have, however, mentioned opposing the renewal for Berri several times before.
Berri has been the longest serving Parliament Speaker since Lebanon’s creation. Oct. 20, 2014, will mark his 22th anniversary as head of the legislative authority, while the closest competitor to the record was Kamel al-Asaad, who led the Parliament from 1970 till 1984.
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