National Struggle Front Seeking to Challenge Suspension of Vote Law Deadlines
The National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat along with several other lawmakers are seeking to challenge parliament’s endorsement to suspend the deadlines set by the 1960 vote law.
The revelation was made by Caretaker Minister Wael Abou Faour, who is loyal to Jumblat, in an interview with An Nahar newspaper published Sunday.
“We are seeking to challenge the draft-law along with several lawmakers who have rejected it to preserve the constitution and the elections,” Abou Faour said.
“Several of the deadlines that were suspended included major constitutional violations,” he said.
Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel issued a decree on Saturday suspending the deadline for submitting election nominations until May 19.
The ministry will resume accepting nominations on May 20 and until May 25, said the decree.
Candidates seeking to withdraw their nominations should do so before June 1.
Charbel issued the decree after it was signed by both President Michel Suleiman and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati following parliament's endorsement of the suspension despite the boycott of the National Struggle Front.
Asked about the electoral battles, Abou Faour said “we have reached a decisive stage that forces us either to agree on a new law” that should focus on the combination of the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems “or settle the choices of holding the elections or postponing them.”
The rival parties have so far failed to agree on a new vote law, which forced parliament to suspend the deadlines of the 1960 law pending consensus on an alternative.
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