Gemayel Urges Feasible Alternative to Orthodox Law, Says Settlement Possible

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Saturday revealed that “contacts are ongoing between a group of leaders in order to reach common ground and a settlement over the electoral law.”

“There is an inclination to endorse a hybrid electoral law that enjoys consensus and no one has an interest in instability,” Gemayel said in an interview on Al-Jazeera television.

Defending a decision by President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati to sign a decree calling on electoral bodies to hold the parliamentary elections, Gemayel said: “What Suleiman and Miqati did was a constitutional measure, as the deadline was approaching and it is their duty to call on electoral bodies to hold the polls.”

“Those describing the law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering as heresy must suggest a feasible proposal,” Gemayel added.

Under the Orthodox Gathering's controversial draft law, each sect would elect its own lawmakers.

“I call on all parties to agree on a new law that achieves real partnership among all the components of society and proper Christian and Muslim representation, a law that enhances national unity,” Gemayel added.

Turning to the issue of the Syrian conflict, Gemayel said: “We're against dragging Lebanon into the ongoing bloody conflict in Syria and the Phalange Party has called for positive neutrality in line with the Baabda Declaration.”

He stressed that Syrian President Bashar Assad “cannot survive and no dictator can stay in power after this popular revolution in Syria.”

“Positive neutrality is essential in order to prevent importing the Syrian revolution into Lebanon and turning it into a civil war among the Lebanese,” Gemayel urged.

“We will do all we can to convince everyone to stop their military interference in Syria,” he vowed.