Amidst the escalating tension between the Presidency and “Hezbollah,” the visit of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri raises many questions about its timing, content, and objectives, especially after the campaigns targeting President Joseph Aoun on social media in recent days. In this context, informed political sources raise direct and clear questions about the goals and motives behind the Speaker’s move towards Baabda Palace in the past hours.
These sources indicate to that President Berri’s visit to Baabda Palace opens the door to questioning whether it carries a message from “Hezbollah” to the President to calm the situation, or whether it is a declaration of support for the Republic in the face of critics of President Aoun.
In any case, the sources acknowledge that President Berri is going through a difficult situation as a result of the campaigns waged by the party’s environment against the President of the Republic, which prompted the judiciary to intervene.
Despite the difficulty of predicting what is happening behind closed doors, it is clear, according to the sources, that the visit is not ordinary, but rather a visit of the “leader of the Shiite community” to Baabda Palace, due to the media dispute between the President of the Republic and a part of the Shiite community, which prompted President Berri to move quickly.
From here, the sources stress that President Berri’s visit, “holding the stick in the middle,” to Baabda Palace is of great importance in its timing and connotations, as it comes at a moment of tension between the President of the Republic and the party.
As for the connotations and interpretations that are still unclear in the absence of any official position, the sources see in Berri’s visit to the Republican Palace an endeavor to achieve two goals: the first may be to calm the situation after the recent escalation, and the second is to demarcate the borders between President Aoun and the party.
The message that the sources believe President Berri has conveyed through his visit to the President of the Republic is that those who attacked President Aoun do not represent the entire Shiite community, especially since the party has not issued any official position or statement in this regard, and therefore has not adopted the positions of “individuals” who appeared in the media to direct harsh words against the Presidency, as they are not affiliated with the party and do not represent it or speak in its name.
The sources expect the emergence of the contents and results of the Speaker’s endeavor in the next few hours and days, whether towards escalation or de-escalation.
