Berri: Hariri, Nasrallah Left Door Open for Solutions

Although sharp-toned, the latest stances of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “left the door open for solutions,” Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday.

Quoting the speaker after the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting, MPs also said that Berri had informed Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil of his stance on the ideas the latter has proposed to resolve the so-called Sunni obstacle that is delaying the formation of the new government.

“Bassil’s ideas can be capitalized on,” Berri told the lawmakers, hoping the efforts will lead to the formation of the government as soon as possible.

The government was on the verge of formation on October 29 after the Lebanese Forces accepted the portfolios that were assigned to it but a last-minute hurdle over the representation of the aforementioned Sunni MPs surfaced.

Hizbullah has insisted that the six Sunni MPs should be given a seat in the government, refraining from providing PM-designate Saad Hariri with the names of its own ministers in a bid to press him.

Bassil is meanwhile trying to convince the rival parties to accept a settlement based on naming a “consensus” Sunni minister.