Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer – Gulf News

Beirut: Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) chief and Minister of Foreign
Affairs Gibran Bassil introduced the 75th version of a new electoral law
that, to say the least, appeased some and upset others. In this
latest confabulation, Bassil called for electing 64 deputies (out of
128) according to a proportional representation system in five
electorates, while the remaining 64 are to be chosen by their respective
sects under a winner-takes-all system, in 14 specific electorates. There
were few takers as Hezbollah, for example, insisted on a full
proportional representation, while the Future Movement and the
Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) simply said no because, they argued,
Hezbollah’s weapons effectively prevented serious competition in its
strongholds.

Remarkably, Bassil added fuel to the fire when he
suggested that the time was ripe to establish a Senate — as anticipated
by the 1989 Ta’if Accords that ended the 1975-1990 Civil War — though
his recommendation that it be chaired by a non-Maronite Christian was
explosive, and unanimously rejected by most officials and commentators. Ta’if
envisaged the Senate leadership to be allotted to the Druze community
to balance the country’s sectarian composition in power, but Bassil’s
latest provocation was directly linked to the upcoming parliamentary
elections, precisely to deny the Druze a say in electing several
Christian parliamentarians in the Chouf and Aley districts.

Reaction against Bassil was swift and overwhelming, as the State
Minister for Human Rights, Ayman Shuqair (PSP), declared that the move
was sectarian, while the Minister of Interior, Nouhad Al Mashnouq
(Future) said the Movement was not ready to endorse such a suggestion. The
PSP head, deputy Walid Jumblatt, warned that Bassil’s latest electoral
proposal aimed to “marginalise” the minority Druze community, which he
insisted was unacceptable. Local newspapers quoted an unnamed PSP
official saying: “It does not lead to correct and fair representation
and it rather meets the FPM’s ambitions, or specifically Bassil’s
personal ambitions.” Opinion page writers in several local dailies
lamented Bassil’s latest initiative, and expected it to join the
previous 74 proposals advanced by various groups, which confirmed that
Lebanese elites were nowhere near an accord to hold the upcoming May
2017 parliamentary elections under a new law.