Nabih Berri wins fifth term as speaker of Lebanese parliament

Saeed Dhaher
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-07-01

Nabih Berri addressed the parliamentary session to elect a new speaker in Beirut on June 25. The only candidate for the post, he was later re-elected to his fifth consecutive term as the speaker of the parliament, consolidating his position as one of Lebanon's most influential politicians. (Nabil Mouzner/AFP/Getty Images)

BEIRUT — Nabih Berri will begin his fifth consecutive term as the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, having won 90 votes out of the 127 votes cast. Berri was the only candidate for the post. The March 14 Alliance, which won 71 seats in the new parliament, gave Berri 33 votes and cast 82 blank ballots in protest of his performance in the last session, which was suspended for several months in defiance of Fouad Siniora’s government.

Berri thanked those who had voted for him and added, “As for those who cast blank votes, I am convinced that four years from now, you will vote for me.” Referring to the previous session, he explained that it had been operating under pressure from political and security challenges, but had proven to be a bridge that allowed for the conclusion of the Doha Accord and the conduct of the presidential election. It was important, he said, “to seize this opportune moment to cement peace and stability in Lebanon and to revive this country’s regional status. That requires our facilitation of the government of national unity to exploit this stability.”

Commenting on the re-election of Berri, who belongs to the minority parliamentary bloc, journalist Thair Abbas wrote, “The majority did not have anyone who stood a chance against him. Under the rules of the constitution, the speaker must be a Shiite Muslim. The three eligible majority bloc representatives lacked the Shiite stamp of approval. A vote for them would have been a recipe for internecine warfare.” Nabih Berri, the leader of the Amal Movement, has managed through turbulent times to maintain functional relationships with his political foes, most notably Representative Walid Jumblatt and late President Rafiq Al-Hariri, who was assassinated in a car bomb attack.

Source: Voice of Lebanon/

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