Mustaqbal Urges 'Strong Efforts' to Reach 'Consensual Electoral Law'

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday called on the political parties to exert “strong efforts” in order to reach a “consensual” electoral law that “mixes the proportional representation and winner-takes-all systems.”

The sought-after law “must not eliminate any party,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The political forces must work in a spirit that avoids “intimidation and unilateralism,” Mustaqbal added.

Some political parties have suggested a vote in parliament should there be failure to agree on a consensual electoral law.

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

While Mustaqbal 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.