Berri nominates himself for speaker

Outgoing Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc officially nominated him for another new term as Speaker.

“We hope all colleagues will support this nomination and work for it,” his bloc said in a statement after a meeting chaired by Berri himself .

By long-standing convention, the parliament speaker post is reserved for a Shiite and Berri’s Amal Movement and its ally Hezbollah have won all 27 Shiite seats in the new parliament.

Several anti Hezbollah and Amal Shiite parliamentary candidates pulled out of the race because they were subjected to attacks by Hezbollah and Amal thugs

Several opposition blocs have said that they do not intend to vote for Berri ( 84) who has been the speaker for 30 years . He was first elected in 1992