Beirut- Lebanon’s electoral law remains at the center of meetings held between different political parties striving to reach an agreement on a structure that is acceptable by all sides. However, discussions on such a draft-law was absent from Wednesday’s cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who said he was optimistic about reaching a solution. Hariri stressed the electoral law was right around the corner. “We still have 19 days to agree on a new electoral law. I am optimistic about reaching a solution, and this is what we must work on achieving, and we are working day and night to overcome the remaining difficulties,” Hariri said at the start of the cabinet session. He also urged ministers to abide by what was agreed on to preserve the government’s solidarity, and stressed that the door is open for the discussion of any idea in the council of ministers. Meanwhile, political observers are waiting for a speech by President Michel Aoun during the Iftar hosted by the Presidential Palace in Baabda on Thursday.
The president might announce a “final agreement on the electoral law based on the proportional system and on dividing the country into 15 electoral districts.” Sources close to the electoral file predicted that Aoun’s position would be preceded by a closed meeting between him, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri. “As Prime Minister Hariri said, we are working on the final agreement” on the electoral law, Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury told reporters at the end of the cabinet session. For their part, deputies who met with Berri on Wednesday quoted him as saying that he “was awaiting for the outcome of ongoing contacts regarding the vote law based on 15 districts.” According to the MPs, Berri hoped that the different parties would strike a deal on a new vote law as soon as possible. Also Wednesday, Interior Minister Nohad al-Mashnouq told reporters following the cabinet session that if a new electoral law based on 15 districts was approved, then there would not be enough time to hold the elections within three months. On May 21, Lebanon missed the first deadline for conducting the parliamentary elections.
