Qaouq Says Govt. a 'Failure' if 1960 Electoral Law Re-Endorsed
Senior Hizbullah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq warned Sunday that the new government's performance would be deemed a “failure” and the new presidential tenure would suffer a major setback should the controversial 1960 electoral law be re-endorsed.
“Regaining people's confidence is hinging on one thing: the approval of a new electoral law that ensures correct and fair representation,” Qaouq, who is an official in the party's Central Council, said.
“The thing that is hindering the start of the new presidential tenure is the 1960 law, which is still 'alive' and which is the perfect recipe for disappointing the hopes of the Lebanese that were pinned on the new government,” the Hizbullah official cautioned.
“Its re-endorsement would be the shortest path towards deeming the new government's performance as a failure,” Qaouq added.
“We insist on a law that guarantees just and correct representation, because a new law is the normal and obligatory gateway for building a strong and just state,” the official went on to say.
Hizbullah has repeatedly called for an electoral law fully based on proportional representation but other political parties, especially the Progressive Socialist Party and al-Mustaqbal Movement, have rejected the proposal, arguing that the party's controversial arsenal of arms would prevent serious competition in regions where the Iran-backed party has clout.
Mustaqbal, the Lebanese Forces and the PSP have meanwhile proposed a hybrid electoral law that mixes the proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems. Speaker Nabih Berri has also proposed a hybrid law.
The country has not voted for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending its own mandate.
The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral law and the next elections are scheduled for May 2017.
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