Report: Parties Evaluate Electoral Law, Senate Drafts Suggested by Berri

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that he has completed drafting two formats one for an electoral law based on proportional representation, and another “integrated” for establishing a senate, and that he handed them to the various political parties and kept their contents secret pending their positions, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Friday.

“I believe these two projects offer a solution for the current crisis, and I see no other way. I have closed the page on the qualification electoral project. I only rejected it because it is not proper for the country's interest,” Berri told his visitors on Thursday.

On reports that Prime Minister Saad Hariri has informed Berri of his intention not to attend the May 15 parliament session and that he rejects a parliament term extension, Berri said: “I have congratulated Hariri on his stance.

“They believe that I support an extension, it is their business. My position is well known and if they want to prove me wrong let them agree on a new electoral law,” remarked the Speaker.

On the fate of a parliament session scheduled for May 15 shall Hariri decide not to attend, Berri said: “It is my duty to keep inviting the council to meet in order to avoid vacuum."

The Speaker stressed saying: “There will be no law without consensus. There will be no voting on a law whatsoever.”

Referring to Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil's qualification law format, Berri stressed that he no longer “sees the qualification law anymore, I am making them a favor through my two project. Let them take advantage of it, knowing that I can sense that the senate project is garnering the support of the majority of political parties.”