March 14 Committee to Set Stage for Opposition Consensus on New PM, Vote Law

A five-member committee of opposition MPs is expected to launch consultations with the March 14 alliance's members in the coming days to agree on the person they will nominate for the premiership, high-ranking sources said.

The sources told An Nahar daily published Friday that the committee was formed following a large-scale meeting held Wednesday between the opposition alliance's lawmakers at Center House.

Their talks will include an agreement on the stance from the binding consultations between President Michel Suleiman and parliamentary blocs that he has set for April 5 and 6, his call for national dialogue, the electoral draft-law and the opposition's demands for the extension of the tenure of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, the sources said.

Al-Liwaa daily said the results of the committee's meeting would most probably be discussed at another large-scale meeting of March 14 MPs most likely next Tuesday.

The newspaper quoted Phalange MP Sami Gemayel as saying that the committee's meetings will remain open-ended.

He said it was important for the opposition members to head to Baabda palace for the binding consultations with a united stance.

According to al-Liwaa, the committee's members include in addition to Gemayel, al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat, Lebanese Forces lawmaker George Adwan and MP Butros Harb representing the March 14 alliance's independent Christians.

Their consultations with the rest of the opposition’s factions on the name of the new premier also include efforts to reach an agreement on an electoral draft-law after what al-Liwaa said was a strong belief by the LF and the Phalange that the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal will not be approved by parliament.

The two Christian parties along with their rivals from the March 8 majority alliance – the Free Patriotic Movement and the Marada movement – had approved the proposal at a meeting of joint parliamentary committees.

But the plan has been rejected by Suleiman, Miqati, the National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat, al-Mustaqbal and March 14's independent Christian lawmakers and figures.

Al-Liwaa said that the conferees at the Center House meeting had buried the Orthodox proposal and kept discussions on the hybrid draft-law that combines the winner-takes-all and the proportional representation systems.