Berri: All Fears on Elections "Inflated" and "Misplaced"

 
Source: Al-Manar TV, 08-03-2009

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Sunday reassured the Lebanese that all fears, questions, concerns and doubts about the upcoming parliamentary elections are inflated and misplaced.
In a reception ceremony in Oman with Lebanese Ambassador to Oman Afif Ayoub, Berri said talk of tensions prior to the elections were nothing but "dust and smoke" that some parties are using in an attempt to incite factional prior to the June 7 parliamentary elections.

"I tell you quite frankly: yes, there is disagreement on a number of general policies, including defense, finance and development policies, and on the transition from a state in which power is monopolized ... There is historic disagreement on the line of Lebanon wants to follow, the line of the Arab identity or that of self-isolation," Berri said.

The Speaker, meanwhile, stressed that disagreements do not mean Lebanon is headed for violence. "Of course there are people who attempt to take advantage of any tension ... but I am optimistic that Lebanon is headed for the elections in democracy and will further dialogue on the points of difference."

He said that any decision about the safety of holding the elections on a single day is "at the discretion of commanders," adding that, "The elections will be held on one day, on June 7."
Berri encouraged the international monitoring of elections in Lebanon, but asked, "Are you not the countries that asked the Palestinians to hold their elections? They did, and what happened? Why are the speaker and 42 deputies and ministers in prison?"

Berri called for the formation of any future government to be on the basis of the current government formula, which he said reflected consensual democracy. "The third-guarantor is a political complication, and not a structural complication, because objection to government work can be done from within or outside the cabinet. It can be done in the street or at the cabinet table," he said.