Mashnouq: Employees Need Training on New Electoral Law

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on Friday that a six months time period is needed to train the employees on the new electoral system before staging the parliamentary elections.

“We need at least six or seven months to train the employees on the new voting system,” said Mashnouq from Ain el-Tineh after meeting Speaker Nabih Berri.

Asked about the mechanism that will be adopted during the elections, he pointed out that the count of votes in a proportional representation system will be “electronic.”

Furthermore, “an intensive media campaign and the latest modern technologies will be launched in order to inform the citizens about the new law,” he added.

Political parties agreed on Thursday on an electoral law based on full representation and 15 electoral districts to replace the 1960 majoritarian law in force.

A meeting between President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri on the sidelines of a presidential Iftar banquet at Baabda Palace, was culminated with Hariri announcing that an agreement has been reached and the “details will be finalized before the end of the parliament's term.”