The General Secretariat of the Parliament issued on Tuesday the schedule of the non-binding parliamentary consultations that the designated Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, will be holding at Parliament on Wednesday and Thursday, January 15 and 16.
Salam will first meet with Speaker Nabih Berri at 10 AM, followed by Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab, at 10:20.
All MPs will attend, except, seemingly, Hezbollah and Amal’s parliamentary blocs.
According to a source close to Berri, the boycott of the consultations is a sign of “protest” against the outcome of the binding parliamentary consultations for the appointment of a prime minister, held on Monday at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.
Amal and Hezbollah’s blocs had not named their candidate to form the new government, while a majority chose Judge Salam for the task. They claim to have obtained guarantees from President Joseph Aoun for the reappointment of Najib Mikati as head of the Cabinet, knowing that the president cannot intervene in binding parliamentary consultations.
Their boycott of the upcoming consultations does not mean, however, that the Shiite duo “will abstain from participating in the government,” according to the same source, quoted by the al-Arabiya TV channel.
According to news agency al-Markazia, President Aoun may call Berri to try to persuade them to take part in the consultations.
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