Miqati Raises Solution with Berri amid Reports of Possible Parliamentary 'Settlement'

Prime Minister Najib Miqati visited Ain el-Tineh following his return from abroad to seek Speaker Nabih Berri’s help in holding a Cabinet session in which “some” Shiite ministers would take part, informed sources said.

The other Shiite ministers would “boycott” the session, the sources added, in remarks to Nidaa al-Watan newspaper published Tuesday.

Berri, however, maintained his insistence on the Shiite duo’s stance which calls for “resolving the issue of (Judge Tarek) Bitar first,” the sources said.

Media reports meanwhile said that there could be a parliamentary “settlement” to the crisis resulting from the Shiite duo’s insistence on Bitar’s removal.

Under the reported settlement, the accused ex-PM and former ministers would be referred to a parliamentary panel of inquiry and a “bargain” would be made with the Free Patriotic Movement under which it would provide a “Christian” cover to a parliamentary session that would approve the panel, the reports said.

The FPM would in return get “electoral gains, especially as to the amendments of the electoral law and the six expat seats,” the reports added.

Nidaa al-Watan meanwhile said that “presidential and political consultations between the Grand Serail, Ain el-Tineh and Mirna Chalouhi will intensify over the next few hours and days to crystallize the outlines of the sought bargain, especially that the Parliament Speaker will soon call for a legislative session.”

Noting that the session might be held next week, to approve a host of draft laws, the daily added that should the FPM agree to the proposed “bargain,” Berri would then put the panel’s proposal to a vote.