Lebanon First” Parliamentary Bloc Meets Under Hariri”s Chairmanship
The newly formed “Lebanon First” parliamentary bloc held its first meeting on Wednesday in Qoreitem under the chairmanship of MP Saad Hariri and the attendance of 40 MPs including outgoing PM Fouad Saniora.
"We have agreed to be open and to cooperate with all political forces in the country for the benefit of the Lebanese state," MP Farid Makari told reporters following the meeting.
He added that the parliamentary bloc is to cooperate with President Michel Suleiman, disclosing that MP Hariri is scheduled to meet with former Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri this evening to clarify some points concerning the legislature”s work.
"Based on the Hariri-Berri meeting, the [bloc] will decide on the parliament speaker”s vote," Makari said.
The Lebanese parliament is scheduled to meet tomorrow and elect a new speaker following the June 7 legislative elections.
Former Speaker Berri is the sole candidate for the post. If elected on Thursday this would be his fifth term as speaker.
Makari added that Hariri is to decide on whether to head the next government following consultations.
"We named our parliamentary bloc "Lebanon First". The bloc is composed of the al-Mustaqbal bloc and some MPs who ran during the elections under the March 14 banner," he said.