The hour of reckoning has arrived between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri, who launched a fierce attack on "the authority hiding behind the excuse of not letting us," without directly naming Aoun or the Free Patriotic Movement. Berri's high rhetoric during the 44th anniversary speech for the disappearance of the founder of the Amal Movement, Imam Musa al-Sadr, and his companions coincides with the "end phase" of the current term. Thus, there is no room for leniency anymore as he stated, "It is not permissible or natural to tamper with the constitution or to revolt against it or to seek out ad hoc interpretations or to cater to the ambitions of this or that."
In effect, Berri has made his presidential choices clear when he hinted that he will vote for the character who believes in the unity of Lebanon and its Arab identity, a character united by the Lebanese, which unites rather than divides, and requires both Christian and Islamic support, as well as national backing. In doing so, Berri alluded to the Minister of the Marada Movement, former minister Sleiman Frangieh, who is his closest candidate for the presidency.
So far, Berri's stance has been met with "orange" silence, but this does not negate the return of sharp rhetoric between the two parties, despite the commitment of the Strong Lebanon bloc to elect Berri for the seventh term as Speaker of Parliament.
It is certain that the head of the Free Patriotic Movement will not delay in responding; he will shake "Ain al-Tineh" this time. He has repeatedly threatened in his speeches and press conferences that those who obstruct the path of the current term will regret it, specifically implying that the Speaker has not allowed President Aoun to rule throughout the past six years.
In contrast, information received by "Akhbar Al-Yawm" indicates that an agreement has been reached between the designated Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Berri not to concede to any conditions sought by Aoun and his ally Basil.
What potentially signals worse than what is anticipated is that Berri has never concealed his opposition to granting the President a blocking third, and the "novelty" of six ministers of state or a thirty-member government has fallen apart before it could be born, after the decision-making circles in Baabda learned that Berri and his party do not favor expanding the government.
