by Nazeer RidaBeirut – A meeting between Lebanese President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Sunday helped overcome some of the remaining obstacles that are hindering the approval of a new parliamentary electoral law. The meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda raised the level of optimism in the country that the thorny electoral law dispute will be resolved after years of political wrangling. The lingering differences over the current law lies in the distribution of seats in electoral districts and if the preferential vote should be held on the basis of the district or province (qadaa), revealed Lebanese Forces MP Georges Adwan. Hariri said after his talks with the president: “The meeting with Aoun was positive and we should speed up the drafting of the new electoral law.” The premier stated that the drafting should be complete before Wednesday’s cabinet session. Lebanon witnessed a flurry of political consultations last week in an attempt to eliminate the remaining obstacles in the electoral law and set a date for the parliamentary elections that have been twice postponed due to dispute over the law. The factions are also seeking to extend parliament’s term before it expires on June 20.
Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil stated that “time is running up”. “It is unacceptable for us to reach vacuum,” he added, warning that vacuum will not be limited to parliament, but it will extend to the whole state. He stressed: “We will forge ahead with openness and positivity to reach an agreement.” He called for the adoption of an electoral law that is based on proportional representation and 15 districts, saying that there are no disputes over the essence of the new law. Adwan echoed Khalil’s statements, adding that some issues of contention will be resolved this week. The differences center on the preferential vote, he said. “If we failed to reach an agreement, then we have no choice but to resort to a vote on it,” he explained. The MP also denied that there are differences between the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement, saying: “We are in agreement over 98 points, while two remain.” Should a new law be adopted, then the date of the parliamentary elections will be set by the president and prime minister. “The economic situation in the country depends on the adoption of this law,” stated Adwan. Mustaqbal Movement MP Mohammed al-Hajjar meanwhile called for “preparing for the polls as if they were taking place tomorrow.” He pledged that a new law will be approved soon and all officials should be responsible for preparing the country for voters to head to the ballot boxes to practice their democratic rights. Not all sides in Lebanon have been pleased with the latest developments regarding the law, as Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh lashed out at the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement saying that they had reneged on an agreement made with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki. “They have gone against what we agreed on at Bkirki. Their fear has driven them to devise electoral laws that suit their interests,” he noted.
by Daily Star Lebanon BEIRUT: Lebanon faces a decisive week to endorse a new vote law after Monday’s Parliamentary legislative session was postponed, with both President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri calling for a final agreement ahead of a Cabinet session Wednesday. Aoun and Hariri met Sunday afternoon to discuss the current situation and the result of the communications regarding an agreement on vote law. “Work should be done quickly to achieve a new electoral law as soon as possible,” Hariri told reporters from Baabda Palace after meeting Aoun. The current vote law under discussion is a draft for a proportional electoral system that was reached by Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri at Baabda Palace on June 1 and that would divide Lebanon into 15 electoral districts. Berri Saturday postponed a Monday Parliamentary session to discuss the law after talks failed to yield results ahead of a Cabinet session last week that would have endorsed legislation and referred it to Parliament. The session is now slated for June 16 to give ministers time to approve a final version.
Hariri Saturday called for a Cabinet session to be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Baabda Palace. The electoral law is slated to be the first item of the 47-item agenda. “The formulation of the law should be done before the Cabinet session,” Hariri said when asked whether the new law’s format will be discussed at the session. As politicians race against time to agree an electoral law before Parliament’s term ends on June 20, Berri Sunday sounded the alarm regarding the importance of Wednesday’s Cabinet session. The speaker told his visitors that the session would be a turning point. “I spoke with Hariri about Wednesday’s session and I pressed him on the need to finalize the law. If that happens and they referred it to me on the same day, then we will print it and distribute it to lawmakers the same day,” Berri was quoted as saying. “And then, Friday’s legislative session will be confirmed.” Differences, however, have emerged between rival political parties after Foreign Minister and current Free Patriotic Movement head Gebran Bassil issued a string of new demands as the discussions were reaching a conclusion.
Talks have been complicated by Bassil’s call to link the vote law to “a political agreement” confirming parity between Muslims and Christians in constitutional texts as well as the establishment of a Senate as stipulated by the 1989 Taif Accord. Bassil is also reportedly demanding that the number of Parliament members be reduced from 128 to 108 in line with the Taif Accord, arguing that the extra 20 seats were added after the 1989 at the request of Syria – the main power broker in Lebanon at the time – to consolidate its grip over the country. This is in addition to demanding that Lebanese expatriates be granted six parliamentary seats.
Sources said that the representation of expats in the Parliament is one of the issues that still prevents an agreement on a law.
Both Hezbollah and the Amal Movement, which is led by Berri, reject Bassil’s allocation of six parliamentary seats Lebanese expatriates.
“This is not likely,” Berri said. “They are suggesting six [seats] and if the conditions are there, then there is nothing that prevents it from being more than that. But as for reducing the number of lawmakers, this is impossible and we will not agree with that.”
As for the ongoing issue of shifting seats, Berri said that he agreed on Hariri’s acceptance to move a Christian seat from one of Beirut’s mostly Muslim neighborhoods to the Christian neighborhood of Ashrafieh. But he said he opposed shifting Tripoli’s Maronite seat to Batroun.
Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammad Raad expressed optimism over reaching a new vote law.
“For those who are waiting for a new vote law, this law will come out. And we think that there is no point in going backwards,” Raad said at an event in south Lebanon Saturday. “All of those who are discussing the details, it is of their interest to offer concessions to hold elections based on a new law, whose main points were agreed on.”
Lebanese Forces deputy head MP George Adwan said Sunday that there was no solution except to endorse a new electoral law.
Speaking to local MTV Channel, Adwan confirmed that one of the points of disagreement centered on whether the preferential vote should be on the district or electoral constituency.
“The preferential vote can’t overthrow the law,” he said noting that the LF wants the preferential vote based on the electoral constituency.
Adwan also said that a meeting between Aoun and Berri is expected soon, adding that once a vote law had been passed, elections would be held within six to nine months.
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