and has been pointing fingers at the al Mustaqbal bloc members accusing them of breaching an agreement he reached with Hariri.
Berri received 90 votes while Makari received 74 . This means that both Berri and Makari succeeded because of March 14 votes
March 14 has 71 MPs while the opposition has 57 . This means only 3 opposition MPs voted for Makari while 33 March 14 MPs voted for Berri
What is sad is that more than 10 people were injured from celebratory gunfire following the reelection of Berri as the speaker. As soon as the announcement over his reelection was made celebratory gunfire broke out in southern Beirut suburbs . Berri's Amal supporters must have been surprised that their man made it despite his past performance. What is really sad is that one 30 year old woman from the Bazzi family died from a heart attack because the gunfire scared her.
The next step is the formation of the new government
President Suleiman sounded upbeat during an interview with An Nahar . "The general atmosphere is good for creating a government without hindrance or obstacles and I hope that the government would be one productive working team"
Suleiman will start the consultations with the parliament bloc leaders today . Each bloc will name its candidate for premier designate . At the end of the consultations the president is the supposed to name the premier designate based on the recommendations of the parliament blocs. Since March 14 has the parliament majority it is widely expected that Suleiman will be naming Saad Hariri as the Prime minister designate.
Friday
10:55pm MP Ammar told "Al-Manar:" The question today is, "Is everyone now by convinced that Lebanon cannot be governed unilaterally and that the Government of National Unity has become more necessary than ever before?"
10:36pm MP Qabbani told "Al-Manar:" I do not know of anyone from the Al Mustaqbal that did not vote for Berri. It appears that other blocs did not vote for him but remained quiet about it to make Al MUstaqbal look bad.
10:30pm Bishop Kuwaitar was wounded in a traffic accident between Sidon and Jezzine and was taken to the Hammoud Hospital in Sidon for treatment
09:46pm MP Saad Hariri met with the Saudi ambassador and called on the citizens to refrain from any celebratory gunfire or any celebrations that are against the law
09:11pm MP Michel Aoun visited Army chief and praised the army for its efforts on maintaining security and peace
20:17pm MP Houri told Future TV: some are trying to smear the reputation of the Future bloc , but our bloc abided by the agreement 100% , while 3 members of the opposition did not vote for Berri. Some members of Aoun's change and reform bloc did not reportedly vote for Berri to make al Mustaqbal look bad.
07:25pm The first day of consultations for premiership ended . So far Hariri has 67 votes out of 128 , which means he has enough votes to be named by Suleiman as the PM designate
07:25 pm Obama regarding the protests : “I commend the demonstrators courage against barbarism in Iran...I call on the Iranian cabinet to reconsider its behavior in compliance with the Iranian will. What’s happening in Iran is unacceptable.”
07:20 pm Kataeb Party bloc MP Sami Gemayel says the bloc nominates Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri for prime minister because we share the same fundamentals and principles, such as restricting arms to the Lebanese Armed Forces and strengthening the role of the state and its institutions.
07:10 pm Lebanese Forces bloc MP George Adwan: The bloc nominates Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri for prime minister, hopes that all parties will facilitate cabinet formation
07:00pm Zahle in our Heart bloc leader Nicolas Fattouch says the bloc nominates Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri for Prime Minister
06:45pm MP Michel al-Murr nominates Future Movement leader Saad Hariri for prime minister and calls on President Michel Suleiman to form a national unity cabinet without obstruction from any party
06:25pm Hezbollah and Aoun blocs refused to nominate anyone for PM , while Speaker Nabih Berri's whose Development and Liberation bloc nominated Saad Hariri for prime minister.
04:50pm Deputy Speaker Farid Makari said from Baabda: I nominate Hariri for PM
04:27pm Speaker Nabih Berri meets with his Development and Liberation bloc, before meeting with President Michel Suleiman for premiership consultations
03:50pm President Michel Suleiman meets outgoing PM Fouad Siniora for premiership consultations
03:35pm Lebanese Judge Ralph Riachy was unanimously elected to be the tribunal’s deputy president
03:30pm President Michel Suleiman begins premiership consultations with Speaker Nabih Berri
02:25pm MP Saad Hariri met on Friday with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison, UK Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy and Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Serdar Kilic.
02:07pm Nassib Lahoud met with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams on Friday and discussed Israel’s violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, while confirming Lebanon’s full commitment to the resolution.
01:54pm Suleiman & Siniora discuss preparations of parliamentary consultations on premiership
02:25pm MP Saad Hariri met on Friday with UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison, UK Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Guy and Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Serdar Kilic.
1:52pm Defense Minister Murr received Army Commander Jean Kahwaji and with Director of Military Intelligence Gen. Edmund Fadel. Discussions focused on recent developments and efforts for strengthening the military institution.
1:25pm Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh left to Trieste Italy to attend the Arab Peace Intiative Committee: I shall bring up the issue of continued Israeli violations of UNSCR 1701 and [call] to press Israel to fully implement it.
01:09pm Franjiyeh meets Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon for the first time in four years
12:50pm Portuguese Defense Minister Nuno Severiano Teixeira following his meeting with defense Minister Murr: We have affirmed our commitment in aiding Lebanon. We hope the cabinet would be formed as this is as positive, as the election of Berri.
12:45pm Members of Central Inspection Authority were sworn in to duty in front of President Michel Suleiman with outgoing Prime Minister Fouad Saniora attending.
12:15pm Phalange leader Amine Gemayel discussed current events with British Ambassador to Lebanon Mary Guy.
11:45 The health ministry announced that five people were diagnosed with swine flu, raising the country's tally of infections to 35.
11:32 Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah: Celebratory gunfire every time a new official is elected or a leader gives a speech is a sign of backwardness. It is a cold blooded crime that the state has to fight.
11:30 MP Nabil de Freij told Future News: Berri was not reelected because he represents the majority of Shiites. He was reelected because of an agreement between the majority and opposition.
11:02 Hariri and Nasrallah agreed to continue dialogue and lauded the calm atmosphere.
11:00 Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri held talks Thursday night.
10:25 Iran's Guardian Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai said on Friday that there was no fraud in the June 12 presidential elections . "After 10 days of examination, we did not see any major irregularities. The elections were the cleanest we have had," Kadkhodai told the official IRNA news agency. The opposition has accused Iran's Guardian Council of siding with Ahmadinejad, for this reason the council's announcement lacks any credibility according to Iranian sources
10:20 MP Salim Karam told LBC: The lower number of votes that Makari and the rest of parliament bureau’s office got was the result of the opposition’s counter reaction to March 14’s non-commitment to vote for Berri.
08:45 update : The number of reported injuries from celebratory gunfire following the reelection of Berri as the speaker has risen from 10 to 16
8:34 MP Michel Moussa told VOL: Consultations are ongoing within the opposition on the nomination of the premier.
8:30 MP Antoine Zahra told VOL: We saw March 14 unity during yesterday’s session. I expect the nomination of the PM to be easy. The only solution it to give the president the final say in the next cabinet.
7:30 Minister Jean Oghassabian told VOL: Consensus atmosphere continues to prevail. The issue of appointing a premier could be easily overcome. There is a general tendency to name Saad Hariri.
07:22 president Suleiman told "Al-Nahar:" the general atmosphere is good for creating a government without hindrance or obstacles and I hope that the government would be one productive working group
07:16 parliamentary opposition sources told "Al-Nahar:" More than half of the "Future" bloc MPs did not abide by the Berri Hariri agreement, this led to the reaction of the opposition MPs regarding the election of Makari
07:03 MP Suleiman Franjieh sources told As Safir: The Zaghrata bloc will determine its stance today and Franjiyeh will be meeting with the new Saudi Arabian ambassador today
06:53 Talal Arslan's bloc decided to adopt the position of change and reform bloc in not naming Hariri as the premier designate
06:16 Jumblatt: I was not surprised by the result of the election of Berri because some of the allies did not vote him and insisted on making him accountable for his past actions
06:13 Future bloc: the fact that the number of votes obtained by Berri did not reach a 100 is not due to our breaching of the agreement and the reaction of the opposition was harsh
06:12 Opposition sources: a lack of commitment by Hariri could result in a crisis of confidence
06:01 Berri is unhappy with the results of the election and blames the march 14 majority
05:57 Gen Aoun, has decided not to nominate Saad Hariri as the new prime minister
05:44 meeting between Nasrallah and Hariri had become imminent in light of developments in the past few hours
05:36 Lebanese forces: the annexation of Zahlah MPs was agreed upon in advance and the charges against us are inappropriate
Thursday
06:00 pm Safir : Lebanese government sources said the "Israeli side proposed to Lebanese army representatives to move the talks which solely focus on the implementation of UN resolution 1701 "to the bilateral political level between the governments of Lebanon and Israel."
05:40 Al-Arabiya TV broadcasted a message from Iranian presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi to the Iranian people on Thursday in which he urged his supporters to continue the peaceful protests. “I will not leave the arena open for those who rigged the elections,” he said. “I will expose those responsible for the disorder.” He added : “Threatening to prosecute me will not stop me from continuing legitimate protests. The Iranian authorities are responsible for the blood bath in Tehran.”
5:30pm NNA reported "unusual" activities by the Israeli army at the border with the deployment of Merkavas and troop carriers.
5:20pm LF leader Samir Geagea called for the arrest of all those who fired celebratory gunshots following Berri's reelection.
05:pm Fire erupted near the garbage landfill in Dora and the army helicopters are trying to extinguish it
4:15pm Hezbollah denounced in a statement the "terrorist" explosion that targeted the Iraqi Sadr city. It warned against "being dragged into a plot to sow disunity."
04:12pm Siniora and salloukh met to discuss the general situation
O3:35pm Berri told al al Manar : I hope to be able to be worthy the trust the people put in me. Hariri will be named the premier after the consultations
