Source: Alalam TV, 24-03-2008
BEIRUT-- During a talkshow on New TV, Berri said: "There is nothing new to avoid a new postponement of the session on Tuesday, but we will exert every effort between now and Tuesday.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has said he would call on rival Lebanese leaders to hold talks next month if the Arab summit in Damascus failed to find a solution to Lebanon's ongoing political crisis.
Berri also indicated he would postpone for the 17th time a parliament session scheduled for Tuesday to elect a new president.
The Speaker said he would consult Arab and foreign leaders on his next steps if there was no breakthrough at the March 29-30 summit.
Berri said he would call on bickering politicians who participated in the 2006 roundtable national dialogue to meet again if there was no progress at the Arab summit.
"I will call (for a) dialogue to consult over the national unity government and the election law" in April, Berri said.
He said his new initiative does not contradict with the three-point Arab League initiative.
The initiative calls for the election of Army Chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as the president, the formation of a national unity cabinet and the adoption of a new electoral law.
He said the parliamentary elections law was the main sticking point between the struggling parties.
The speaker also accused the March 14 forces of causing the presidential vacuum, saying they back out from agreements.
Lebanon is gripped by its worst internal crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war with the rival political factions unable to elect a successor to president Emile Lahoud who stepped down at the end of his term in office in November 24, 2007.
The country is now in its fifth month of being without a president due to the ongoing power struggle between March 14 coalition and the opposition.
The division started when six ministers from the opposition camp resigned from the government of the Western-backed Premier Fouad Seniora on November 26, 2006.
The prime minister has refused to acknowledge calls by the opposition to resign and has declared that he will do so only when a new president is elected.
Political bickering between different parties has reached dangerous levels to the extent that there is a genuine fear of civil strife - especially since street fights are breaking out every now and then between supporters of various groups.