Second Dialogue Session Tackles Creation of Senate, Administrative Decentralization

The national dialogue session on Wednesday -- the second of three scheduled meetings -- focused on the issues of creating a senate and implementing administrative decentralization, state-run National News Agency reported.

The session convened at Ain el-Tineh following a meeting a day earlier that media reports described as “positive,” although the outcome did not record a major breakthrough.

Heads of the parliamentary blocs attended Wednesday's meeting except for head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblat who was represented by MP Ghazi Aridi, and head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun represented who was represented by his son-in-law and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.

After the meeting ended, Kataeb party leader Sami Gemayel made a statement, he said: “Today decentralization has been addressed seriously which is a pivotal issue for the Lebanese. We have put this file on the right track today.

“As for the election of a president and agreeing on an electoral law, I am sorry to say that we have been escaping the implementation of democracy for many years now, because a a president cannot be elected through an agreement between the interlocutors on the table but through a secret voting process, as stipulated in the constitution.”

“Today's session was a deep and serious debate. The discussions opened the door wide on the development of the political system under the Taef accord,” said MP Ali Fayyad.

"We will discuss the creation of a senate tomorrow," he added.

For his part, Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil dubbed Wednesday's meeting as “the most important session among all,” and assured that discussing an electoral law will begin tomorrow.

The interlocutors met on Tuesday to tackle several pending and controversial issues including the election of a president, the formation of a new government and a new voting system.

Berri had called for three successive dialogue meeting on August 1, 2 and 3 in a bid to solve the country's political impasse.

Lebanon has been without a president since the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014.

Hizbullah, MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum.

Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah.

The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.