MP Aoun Says Parties Reached Near Agreement on Electoral Law

MP Alain Aoun said on Friday that efforts of political parties will succeed at finding a new electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary polls, as he assured that fears of another term extension must be dropped.

“We are going to devise a new electoral law. Everyone knows there won't be a new extension crisis,” said Aoun in an interview to VDL (100.5).

The MP believes that efforts are close to completion of the agreement which reached its final stages.

Aoun said there is a “debate that should be completed, even if there is a preliminary agreement on a certain format for the election law,” pointing out that “everyone is committed to the basic details of the law.”

The MP added saying that the issue must be resolved in the next few days for the government to approve the election law which will to be studied by the parliament when it resumes its meetings.

Media reports said that political parties held extensive negotiations in the past few days and have reached a near agreement on a new electoral law known as the 'qualification law.'

However, the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party do not support the format.

The system had been initially proposed by Speaker Nabih Berri several months ago before being eventually endorsed by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil.

In the first round, voting takes place in the current 26 districts and voters are not allowed to vote for candidates from other sects. Two candidates for each sectarian seat qualify for the second round during which voting would take place in 10 newly-defined electoral districts and according to a non-sectarian proportional representation polling system.

The second round's ten districts are Akkar, North, Baalbek-Hermel, Zahle-West Bekaa, Northern Mount Lebanon (Jbeil, Keserwan, Metn, Baabda), Southern Mount Lebanon (Chouf and Aley), Beirut 1 (Ashrafieh, Rmeil, Medawwar, Marfa, Saifi, Bashoura), Beirut 2 (Ras Beirut, Dar el-Mreisseh, Mina el-Hosn, Zoqaq el-Blat, Mazraa, Mousaitbeh), South (Sidon, Tyre, Zahrani, Jezzine), and Nabatiyeh (Nabatiyeh, Bint Jbeil, Marjeyoun, Hasbaya).