Amal Officials Criticize Berri, Call for Implementing Reform
In a statement issued on Wednesday, a group of Amal Movement officials in the Bekaa said they discussed the movement’s organizational situation following its annual conference held on Sunday, during which Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri was re-elected as the movement’s president for three more years.
The officials discussed the “obvious defects in Amal’s management that is seen as adopting authoritarianism in the decision-making process.”
“How would Berri be able to ratify electoral laws that safeguard a democratic electoral process, when he does not implement democracy in Amal’s internal elections, but rather is always appointing senior officials?” the statement asked.
The officials questioned the legitimacy of Sunday’s elections because, they said, Berri gathered members to ensure his re-election.
After their deliberations, the officials unanimously adopted “recommendations that reflect Amal’s mission as declared by its founder, the disappeared Imam Moussa Sadr.”
Former Minister Mahmoud Abu Hamdan read the recommendations, saying that the officials emphasized the importance of implementing reform within the movement and called on Berri “to reassess Amal’s current situation and bring it back to its roots.”
The official also announced that they will form a follow-up committee to make sure these steps are implemented.