Amid the soaring dollar and its record highs that signal worse to come, a congratulatory call made by the Speaker of the Parliament, Nabih Berri, to Maronite Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Rai broke the silence, addressing the presidential election, the call for dialogue, and the potential for a breakthrough in the political scene after the holidays. In this context, political sources ruled out Berri's call for dialogue before gauging the opinions of the parliamentary blocs and checking if the Strong Republic bloc and the Strong Lebanon bloc would participate unconditionally. They indicated through the electronic newspaper "Al-Anbaa" that the gap remains wide between what Berri wants from the dialogue and what both the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces desire.
Member of the Development and Liberation Bloc, MP Michel Moussa, considered that the congratulatory call between Berri and Patriarch Rai is a very normal matter among political references and His Beatitude. He emphasized in an interview with "Al-Anbaa" that both Rai and Berri are concerned about improving the situation starting from the election of a president, reminding that Berri had called for dialogue twice without receiving a response from two large Christian parties.
Moussa said, "There is no way but through dialogue as the scene is repeating itself. If we continue in this manner, we will not reach a result, and there is no avenue but to activate the matter through dialogue," noting that both Rai and Berri are working on this, hoping that the dialogue this time would be better than in the past.
Regarding the Free Patriotic Movement's demand for a comprehensive package, Moussa recalled that the issue of the package was raised during the election of President Michel Suleiman and was not agreed upon, leading to delays in electing a president until the Doha Accord took place. He added, "Regardless of what some demand, what is required today is the election of a president before anything else, and this will be the choice of the dialoguers," and in his view, this will only happen through dialogue and discussions about it, and it all hinges on the responsiveness of the parties. He expected a call for dialogue at the beginning of the new year in hopes that it would lead to the desired outcome.
