NNA - Speaker of the House, Nabih Berri, met Tuesday with MPs and heads of the parliamentary blocs, on the sidelines of a Parliament session devoted to renew the mandate of members of the House's bureau and committees.



Discussions reportedly featured high on the current political tension and the positions of the different blocs regarding the legislative sessions called forth by Berri Wednesday and Thursday.



Within the frame, the Speaker met with outgoing Prime Minister Najib Mikati then with Head of Future bloc, MP Fouad Siniora. The latter said talks did not lead to any agreement pertaining to the participation of Future bloc in tomorrow's session, noting that the group will opt for boycott.


Caretaker Minister of Public Health, Ali Hassan Khalil, said the positions of Speaker Berri were compliant with the Constitution and the laws, denying any intention to modify the agenda of tomorrow's session.



For his part, Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan proposed that Berri convenes the General Assembly so as to interpret the Constitution, indicating that the LF lawmakers will boycott tomorrow's session.



Berri later met with the Deputies of the Change and Reform bloc, with MP Ibrahim Kanaan calling upon all political parties to exert efforts to re-launch the legislation process.


"Lawmaking within the presence of a caretaker government does not contradict the Constitution, especially that this has happened many times in the past," he reminded.


"We maintain that the situation cannot remain as it is now. We hope that the renewal of the term of the Parliament's bureau and committees' members be a chance to re-launch meetings inside the Parliament," Kanaan concluded.


===============R.A.H.