Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Friday he was committed to holding a parliamentary election as scheduled on May 10, despite calls from some politicians to postpone the vote.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and members of the Lebanese government attend a parliament session in Beirut, Lebanon July 15, 2025. Reuters/Emilie Madi
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said on Friday he was committed to holding a parliamentary election as scheduled on May 10, despite calls from some politicians to postpone the vote.
Several politicians have called for a delay, citing security concerns in southern Lebanon, where Israel has carried out air strikes targeting Hezbollah.
Berri, a Shi'ite leader allied with Hezbollah, said in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency that he had informed President Joseph Aoun and the government of his position.
"It is not permissible that, at the start of a new era, we obstruct its launch by disrupting, postponing or extending the most important constitutional entitlement, which is the foundation for forming authorities and producing political life," Berri said.
Berri has opened the candidacy registry for the election and submitted the first nomination request for the Tyre-Zahrani district in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon last held a parliamentary election in May 2022, a vote marked by low turnout and deep public anger over a financial collapse. The election saw some gains by reformist candidates emerging from the 2019 protest movement, while the Iran-backed Hezbollah and its allies lost their parliamentary majority.
Reporting by Laila Bassam
Lebanon’s president will not speak to Israel’s prime minister in the near future, Lebanese officials said on Thursday, dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to expand contacts between the enemy states as Pakistan said peace in Lebanon was vital to ending the Iran war.
The gradual return of normalcy to Lebanon is gaining momentum. Flydubai, Dubai's second largest carrier after Emirates, has announced the resumption of its flights to Beirut on April 18.
A diplomatic breakthrough may be imminent in the Middle East. US President Donald Trump announced late Wednesday that Israeli and Lebanese leaders are set to speak by phone for the first time in 34 years, a potential milestone in a conflict that has kept the two countries in a state of war since Israel's establishment in 1948.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.