How US sanctions on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri forced a date for Lebanon’s presidential elections

After the message of serious US sanctions on those who disrupted the presidential elections in Lebanon arrived, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is on the list, it seems that the latter felt the ink, read the stage well, and realized that he could no longer escape, despite his successive statements of indifference to it. Therefore, it can be said that the threat of sanctions, which coincided with the announcement of the opposition to the candidate Jihad Azour, yielded its results, forcing Berri to set a date for a session to elect a president for the republic, next week.

Sources close to the US administration consider that there are several approaches and interpretations that led to Washington’s announcement of imposing sanctions on the unemployed. After advising the opposition to work on an initiative in which it would unite on a presidential candidate and to have a candidate compete with the head of the Marada Movement, Suleiman Franjieh, it crossed paths with the Free Patriotic Movement over the former minister, Jihad Azour.

And the sources added, in an interview with the Lebanese Forces website, “American, French, and Saudi pressures intersected that sanctions should be imposed on those obstructing the presidential elections, including Berri, who Washington considers that he cannot disrupt the elections by launching positions or linking the call to a session to elect a president to the necessity of having a serious candidate. Or considering that the sessions are a formality.

And the sources say, “France met America in the sanctions, and it hinted repeatedly that those who obstruct the democratic path and constitutional entitlements in Lebanon should be punished, and indeed there was coordination between the Americans and the Europeans, including France, to activate the weapon of sanctions, and the US Congress played a prominent role, as there was a consensus Between Democrats and Republicans in order to impose sanctions on Berri specifically, or at least deterrent measures.

And it considers that this is a remarkable development in the American position, and therefore the responsibility rests with the speaker of Parliament, who seems to have read the changes well and sensed the danger of sanctions, and therefore decided to call a session to elect a president for the current June 14.