Berri re-elected Lebanon’s speaker of parliament for 7th time in a row

BEIRUT – Veteran politician Nabih Berri has been re-elected Lebanon’s parliament speaker for the seventh time in a row, holding onto his record as the longest-serving head of a legislative assembly in the Arab world.

Berri has maintained the position thanks to the 1989 Taif Agreement, which established a power-sharing deal among the country’s largest religious sects — the Christians, the Sunnis, and the Shiites.

Under the agreement, a Christian holds the country’s presidency, a Sunni takes the prime ministry, while a Shiite gets the parliament speakership. Berri belongs to the Lebanese Shiite Muslim community.

Berri, 84, the head of the Amal Movement, was the only candidate for the position. His reelection was backed by a vote of 65-23 in the 128-seat Parliament.

Berri’s reelection was backed by representatives of Hezbollah, the Amal Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party led by Walid Jumblatt, and some independent lawmakers close to the March 8 alliance.

In 2018, Berri got 98 votes for the post.

Biographical details

Berri studied law at the state-run Lebanese University, from which he graduated in 1963 before completing his higher education at Paris’ Sorbonne.

At one point, Berri met Imam Musa al-Sadr, a Lebanese Shia cleric who founded the Al-Mahroomeen (“deprived”) movement, later known as the Amal Movement.

Berri rose through Amal’s ranks before eventually leading the movement after al-Sadr’s abrupt disappearance in Libya in 1978, for which the movement blamed Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi.

Under Berri, Amal played an active role in the country’s civil war, which erupted in 1975. During the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), Berri joined leftist forces in repelling Israeli forces.

An ally of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group, Berri is also close to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.

During his lengthy political career, Berri has held six different cabinet portfolios in successive Lebanese governments

Besides ministerial posts, he chaired the Union of Parliamentarians of Lebanese Origin in 1993. Since 1999 he has also chaired the Arab Parliamentary Committee to Expose Israeli Crimes Against Arab Civilians.

In 2003, Berri was elected president of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union, and in 2004 was elected chair of the Council of the Union of Councils of Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (currently the Organization of Islamic Cooperation) in Dakar, Senegal.

After the 2005 assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Berri established the National Dialogue Committee in 2006 with the aim of easing tensions between Lebanon’s various political forces.

Seven-time parliament speaker

Berri was elected parliamentary speaker for the first time in 1992. He contested the same post in consecutive elections in 1996, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2018, and 2022, winning them all.

The veteran politician maintains good relations with all Lebanese parties while also enjoying the support of the Shiites for his election as speaker.

After his reelection, the ball will now be in the court of Lebanese President Michel Aoun, who must set a date for consultations with the deputies to choose the prime minister for the next government.