Berri: Regional Turmoil Should Compel Lebanese to Consolidate ‘Immunity’

Speaker Nabih Berri has lamented that the Lebanese were watching the regional turmoil at a time when they are bickering on the interior ministry portfolio rather than speeding up the formation of the new cabinet.

Berri’s visitors told An Nahar and As Safir newspapers that the speaker wondered how Lebanese officials were still busy fighting on the portfolio amid dramatic developments in the region.

The uproar in the region requires the consolidation of Lebanon’s “immunity” by speeding up the formation of the government that should prevent the turmoil from reaching its borders, Berri told his visitors.

Asked about Syria’s stance from the cabinet deadlock, the Amal movement leader reiterated that each day of delay in forming the government is an “intentional plot” against the Assad regime.

Berri unveiled that the political vacuum was encouraging the smuggling of arms from Lebanon to Syria and further weakening cooperation between the two countries.

On Saturday, the speaker urged the Lebanese to set the preservation of their country as a priority saying the “adherence to privileges” was preventing the establishment of the state.

“Lebanon needs the confirmation of its citizens that it represents a top priority for them,” Berri said during the annual charity dinner held by the Lebanese Association for the Welfare of the Disabled at BIEL.