Cabinet to Discuss Mustaqbal Amendment to Electoral Law during Next Session

Cabinet is expected to tackle during its upcoming session an amendment to the parliamentary electoral law proposed by the Mustaqbal bloc, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

The proposal was referred by Speaker Nabih Berri to the government and it has been signed by MPs Ahmed Fatfat, Ghazi Youssef, Atef Majdalani, and Jean Oghassabian.

The proposal, linked to the one made by former Premier Saad Hariri, calls for the adoption of the winner-takes-all system and 37 electoral districts.

It does not however call for the establishment of a senate, which would require a constitutional amendment.

Fatfat questioned to An Nahar the cabinet's readiness to study the Mustaqbal bloc's suggestion when it had not even addressed the Orthodox Gathering electoral draft law, which was approved by the joint parliamentary committees on Tuesday.

Mustaqbal circles revealed that contacts had been held between bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, and Phalange Party chief Amin Gemayel in order to find a substitute to the Orthodox Gathering draft law in light of Thursday's Christian meeting at Bkirki.

Meanwhile, ministerial circles told the daily that the government had previously referred its electoral proposal to parliament, adding that it is committed to it and will set it as a priority above the rest.

The government approved in August an electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 districts.

It was however rejected by Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and the March 14 camp, which deemed the draft law as being tailored to the March 8 camp.

The adoption of the Orthodox Gathering proposal was met by criticism by a number of officials.

President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Jumblat's National Struggle Front, the Mustaqbal Movement, and independent Christian March 14 figures had rejected it, saying that it fuels sectarianism.

The proposal calls for dividing Lebanon into a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own lawmakers under a proportional representation system.