Marouni: Kataeb on Same Grounds as FPM, Rejects Extension of Parliament Term

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Kataeb MP Elie Marouni stressed on Thursday that his party is on the same grounds as the Free Patriotic Movement as for rejecting the current 1960 majoritarian electoral law and the extension of the parliament's term.

Expressing the Kataeb's utter refusal to adopt the 1960 law in the forthcoming legislative polls, Marouni told Free Lebanon radio: “We support a new electoral law and reject the 1960. We agree with the FPM and reject the extension of the parliament’s term.”

“The 1960 law will only ensure the election of the same MPs, and will not introduce any changes to political balances,” he said.

The MP voiced calls upon the March 14 alliance to “reevaluate the existing political reality and to reunite its ranks before Hizbullah and its weapons become the major ruling force in the country.”

Political parties are bickering over amending the current election law which divides seats among the different religious sects.

The country has not organized parliamentary elections since 2009 and the legislature has since extended its own mandate twice.

While al-Mustaqbal Movement has rejected that the electoral law be fully based on proportional representation, arguing that Hizbullah's arms would prevent serious competition in the party's strongholds, Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat has totally rejected proportional representation, even within a hybrid law, warning that it would “marginalize” the minority Druze community.

The political parties are meanwhile discussing several formats of a so-called hybrid law that mixes proportional representation with the winner-takes-all system.

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