Michel Mouawad, a presidential candidate, has lashed out at Speaker Nabih Berri following the latter’s description of him as an “in vitro experiment” candidate.
Accusing Berri of usurping the parliament speakership for the past 30 years, Mouawad said that Berri’s remarks “befit him as a militiaman”.
In an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper published on Thursday, Berri stated that “Our candidate is serious and we have repeatedly insisted on him, while their candidate is merely an in vitro experiment.”
Mouawad responded to Berri’s comments by saying that they carried an attempted insult against his father, slain President Rene Mouawad, and all the MPs and blocs that voted for the young lawmaker in the latest presidential election sessions.
He also called on Marada Movement chief Sleiman Frangieh, the candidate of Berri’s camp, to clarify whether he accepts “the insult against Zgharta and the North.”
Furthermore, Mouawad criticized Berri as a “master of corruption that transcends presidential tenures and governments”.
He stated that the Lebanese people do not forget and will not forget Nabih Berri’s militia practices, his siege of Beirut, its people, and economy, and his invasion on May 7th.
The media office of the President of the Independence Movement, MP Michel Moawad, issued a statement in which it described Berri’s words as “unworthy of the head of the parliamentary institution, but rather befitting a militiaman”.
The statement added that Berri’s attempt to insult President Rene Moawad, the martyr of the Republic, is an insult directed at all the MPs and blocs who voted for MP Michel Moawad in the presidential elections.
It says it also indirectly targets Zgharta Al-Zawiya and the North, which they represent in the parliament and where Rene Moawad and Nayla Moawad have always represented them well.
Mouawad further criticized Berri as a professor of corruption that spans across eras and governments, and is the biggest partner in all the sectarian divisions since 1992 and even before the Taif agreement.
He added that the Lebanese people mock the ’51 percent joke’ and the files of electricity, diesel, and all the reconstruction of the South, and his council that reeks.
He is exactly the head of the successive parliamentary councils that never held the government accountable or punished the corrupt, and caused the waste of billions of dollars, the theft of the livelihoods of the Lebanese people, and the stuffing of the administration with accountants and thugs.
Mouawad concluded by saying that the current council has shown resistance to Berri personally and what he represents in terms of performance.
After Berri turned the council presidency into a sectarian den protected from people’s anger by militia practices, he remained in his position with only 65 votes.
Mouawad ended by stating that the end of this term is near, which will likely come as welcome news to many Lebanese people.
