Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

Lebanese parliament re-elects longtime speaker in first session

Lebanese parliament re-elects longtime speaker in first session

Newly elected reformist MPs said they would not compromise in their efforts to change the way Lebanon is run.

Lebanon’s new parliament has re-elected Nabih Berri for a seventh term as Speaker of Parliament, during the first parliamentary session held since elections on May 15.

“I invite you to work together for a parliament that consolidate civil peace,” Berri told parliamentarians on Tuesday after his re-election. “We want a parliament that refuses political vacuums and fulfils its constitutional obligations.”

Berri received 65 votes from Lebanon’s 128 parliamentarians, less than the 98 he obtained at the start of his last term back in 2018. He has been speaker of Parliament since 1992. In Lebanon’s fragile sectarian power-sharing system, the speaker is always a Shia Muslim.

Berri’s Amal Movement is a crucial ally of its fellow Shia party, Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Twenty-three legislators cast blank ballots, while the remaining 40 placed void protest votes. In the voided ballots, some parliamentarians attempted to highlight the failures of the Lebanese state by writing names that included assassinated Shia historian and analyst Lokman Slim, the victims of the 2020 Beirut Port explosion, female victims of sexual violence, and protesters who were beaten and lost their eyes during a protest movement in late 2019.

Lebanon’s parliamentary elections were the country’s first since the beginning of an ongoing economic crisis that has pulled about 80 percent of its population into poverty. Voters took out their anger on Hezbollah and its allies, who lost their majority in parliament.

Sixteen anti-establishment independent candidates gained seats in parliament, a 15-seat increase compared with the 2018 elections. They entered the parliament building in downtown Beirut for the parliamentary session with a small crowd of supporters waving Lebanese flags and cheering them on.

It is still unclear who will be tasked with forming the government, a process that could take months. Hezbollah and its allies now face a strengthened opposition of traditional anti-Iran parties, as well as the anti-establishment reformists.

“We have a big responsibility, the people chose us to represent them,” parliamentarian Halimé Kaakour, who is also a law professor, told Al Jazeera before entering parliament. “We are here to reinforce democracy and human rights in Lebanon … we will refuse any kind of compromise.”


Justice for port victims


Earlier, reformist politicians met with supporters and relatives of the victims of the Beirut port explosion. Victims held portraits of their lost family members and urged the new members of parliament to support the investigation that has been frozen since January.

“I’m hopeful because we have these new MPs, and we hope they push for the investigation,” Shadi Doughan, who held a portrait of his brother who died in the port explosion, told Al Jazeera.

Doughan is frustrated that the majority of legislators still represent Lebanon’s status quo of traditional sectarian political parties. “Everyone keeps following their sect and their za’im [leader], we’re so sick of it.”

More than 200 people were killed and 6,500 wounded when hundreds of tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate fertiliser, stored at Beirut’s port for six years, ignited on August 4, 2020. It was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history.

Judge Tarek Bitar has charged former ministers and security officials with criminal negligence, but his investigation continues to stall as human rights groups and families accuse government officials of obstructing the investigation. Two sitting politicians, Ali Hasan Khalil and Ghazi Zeiter, who both represent Amal, are among those Bitar has charged.

Among the legislators consoling the families was Waddah Saddek, who won a seat in Beirut’s second district.

“This represents the problem of all of Lebanon: we have around 220 dead here because of 30 years of corruption, of criminals running the country,” Saddek told Al Jazeera near the destroyed port. “We may face the same [fate] … I will go to parliament and fight for everyone who died here.”

Lebanon’s economy is spiralling, with the Lebanese pound losing 90 percent of its value and the government unable to control skyrocketing inflation. The new parliament now has to scramble to form a government, resume talks with the International Monetary Fund, and implement financial and accountability reforms to make the country’s economy viable again.

While the reformist members of parliament are expected to face obstacles, Doughan hopes that they will not compromise and inspire more Lebanese people to vote against traditional parties as the economy continues to crumble.

“We’re living but we really are dead,” Doughan said. “We have to get rid of them [the traditional political leaders] if we want to be alive again.”


Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
×