Berri Says Could Back 1960 Law but Never Parliament’s Term Extension

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that he would never agree on the extension of the parliament's term, but might agree on staging the election based on the 1960 electoral law if the deadline approaches, An Nahar daily reported on Monday.

“I can support the 1960 law sixty times and not once do I support the parliament's term extension. I don't have to repeat how must I reject and hate this law,” Berri told the daily.

If we arrive at April 17 and a new law is not agreed, everybody would then have to choose between: either staging the elections based on the current 1960 or the parliament's extension, Berri had noted.

Political parties are bickering over amending the current 1960 controversial electoral 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 the proportional representation system, 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.