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
Iran has warned the United States that it would respond forcefully to an Israeli offensive on a mountainous ridge in southern Lebanon where Iranian military personnel are holed up alongside Hezbollah fighters, three officials briefed on the message told Reuters.
The U.S. and Iran found themselves back in a war footing on Wednesday after the most significant exchange in weeks, with Washington threatening even more devastating strikes while Iran protested an attack that it said killed five and wounded dozens of civilians at a wedding.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog has resolved its outstanding questions from an investigation into secret nuclear activities in Syria under the Assad family's rule but made no progress in Iran, it said on Tuesday in confidential reports seen by Reuters.
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.