Sixteenth national dialogue session was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of House Speaker Nabih Berri at his Ain al-Tineh residence and a new round of talks was set for March 30.
Following the session, sources reported that a heated debate flared up between Foreign Affairs Minister Gebran Bassil and head of Marada Movement MP Sleiman Frangieh over presidential elections.
Bassil, who was representing head of Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun, said that no dispute occurred during the meeting, adding that “boycotting the presidential electoral sessions is a constitutional right.”
For his part, Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb pointed out that the country is heading towards collapse and the Cabinet is unable to address the alarming issues.
“Presidential file cannot be ignored anymore,” he added.
Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Fayyad stressed the need to revive Parliament’s work.
Quoting Berri, Fayyad said that “two-thirds quorum must be met in order for presidential electoral session to be held.”
In turn, Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan said that the garbage file was not tackled during the meeting.