Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri indicated that he has always been cooperative with any external initiative, stating, "If anyone has an alternative to dialogue, let them come forward. We gave them the opportunity of a lifetime, and they did not respond." He added, "There is no president who has come to power without dialogue." In an interview with "Al-Jadeed," he discussed "a group of names proposed by the Qatari side, which are not limited to any specific name." He highlighted that he "cooperated with the French and facilitated their mission, and I am now cooperating with the Qatari and wish them success. I have always said: We thank you for your assistance in electing, not for naming whom we want to elect."
Regarding rumors of a presidential election date next October, Berri said: "I do not talk about dates and have not discussed them, but I hope we can elect today before tomorrow," emphasizing that he "will not call for any session unless it is fruitful, and any session not preceded by dialogue is without purpose." He considered that "Le Drian's remarks about a third option summarize the value of dialogue," stressing that "our candidate is Sleiman Frangieh for now, and there is no plan B." He added, "I gave dialogue a maximum of seven days, and if we notice that after two days there is no consensus, we will proceed directly to open sessions."
