Lebanon’s Berri: Futility of Hegemony is One Lesson Drawn from these Elections

House Speaker Nabih Berri made a televised interview on Monday after Sunday’s parliamentary elections, where he advised “big winners” in the polls to derive lessons that “hegemony is useless,” stressing that the “finance ministry will always have a Shiite minister.”

Berri, who seldom speaks to reporters, told LBCI: “The biggest winner must learn from the lessons given by these elections that attempts of hegemony and sectarianism do no benefit.”

“Exploiting money for electoral purposes have proven futile. The elections gave a lesson about corruption. People want real reform,” added Berri.

The Speaker stressed the need to quickly form a new government after the elections, assuring that he has always “supported the term of President Michel Aoun.”

On the figure he would name as Premier for the new government, he said: “Everyone knows who my candidate is, but I will not name him today.”

To a question on whether the Speaker insists on having a Shiite minister for the finance Ministry, Berri said: “Yes, the Finance Ministry according to the Taef accord is strictly for the Shiite community.”