Berri to Be Re-Elected Speaker Thursday
Parliament on Thursday will re-install Nabih Berri for a fifth 4-year-term as parliament speaker and Farid Makari deputy speaker for a second term.
Local media said Berri is likely to receive around 100 votes and more than 20 blank votes, mainly from the Phalange Party and the Lebanese Forces who object to his re-election for failure to provide guarantees beforehand that he would not shut doors of Parliament as he did during an 18-month political crisis that gripped Lebanon before a deal was cut in Doha on electing a new President.
Lawmakers in the 128-seat Parliament — 13 political blocs and 11 independent MPs — will take part in the vote on a speaker.
Nominated for the Office of Parliament were MPs Marwan Hamadeh, Tor Sarkisian, Michel Moussa while Ahmed Fatfat and Antoine Zahra to the Secretariat.