Berri threatens to dissolute parliament

The "unemployment" of the parliament under the pretext of the cabinet's resignation or the presidential void enraged Speaker of the House Nabih Berri to the extent that he warned against the parliament's dissolution amid the boycott of Christian parliamentary blocs of the legislative sessions.

According to As-Safir daily, Berri expressed his discontent over the failure of the government to approve the budget, stressing that if it was not approved soon then the cabinet would have committed the greatest mistake since it was formed.

"This mistake cannot be justified, since the state is spending funds without the parliament's supervision," Berri was quoted by his visitors as saying.

The speaker affirmed that he tasked Minister of Finance Ali Hassan Khalil to find a gateway for approving the budget, either unchanged or by amending or even adding the pay hike bill; however it seems that "there's a missing link".

"Some politicians agreed to link the budget to the pay hike and then refrained, while others contradict themselves," Berri stated.

On his stance regarding the boycott of the scheduled legislative session by Free Patriotic Movement, Kataeb and Lebanese Forces, given it becomes illegitimate when a Christian key component is absent, the speaker responded, "No one teaches me the meaning of legitimacy, I have dealt with it previously when a Sunni component such as Future Movement boycotted the parliamentary polls and I suggested back then the parliament's term extension."

"If I knew on the eve of the legislative session that a key component will be absent then I will postpone it," the speaker continued.

"But if they insist on blocking the parliament, then I will demand its dissolution, in accordance with constitution's authority, since it did not convene for a decade without a major motive," Berri concluded.