Aoun: Those who Rejected Orthodox Proposal Toppled Most Important Law for Christians

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Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun lamented on Wednesday the political parties' failure to approve the Orthodox Gathering electoral law during a parliament session.

He said: “Some of the parties that backed the proposal abandoned it therefore toppling the most important law for Christians.”

“The same concessions that were made during the approval of the Taif Accord are being repeated today,” he noted from parliament.

“We were waiting on this historic day for a fair electoral law to be approved,” he stated.

“The constitution calls for fair and equal representation for all sides, which was not respected,” declared the MP.

Moreover, Aoun said: “We were hoping that the other camp, which opposes the proposal, would have supported it in a moment of clarity, but they didn't.”

Meanwhile, he accused the Christian parties that did not back the draft law of violating the principle of coexistence in Lebanon.

“We are concerned with offering fair representation for Christians, while the others only care about gaining more seats in parliament,” remarked the FPM leader.

Speaker Nabih Berri had called parliament to convene on Wednesday in order to vote on the Orthodox Gathering electoral, but the session was suspended over a lack of quorum.

The proposal had been rejected by President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, the Mustaqbal bloc, MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front, and independent Christian MPs.

Its opponents claim that it encourages extremism and leads to more sectarianism in the country. But the March 8 alliance along with the Lebanese Forces and Phalange Party from the March 14 camp stress that the plan is the only way to guarantee the best representation of Christians.

The proposal considers Lebanon a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.

The majority of March 14 alliance MPs and lawmakers of the National Struggle Front reached on Wednesday an agreement on a hybrid electoral draft law despite the rejection of the Phalange Party.

Comments 31
Default-user-icon dd (Guest) 15 May 2013, 12:24

Jack Nicholson playing the role of a psycho with Helen Hunt and Gregg Kinnear! This one is not playing ..

Thumb geha 15 May 2013, 12:26

poor guy :)
all his plans are losing and hopefully his other plan will too: i.e. give more power to the shia at the detriment of the Christians.

Thumb kesrweneh 15 May 2013, 12:44

How did you come up with this one Geha! with the Orthodox law the christians would have gained back all their MPs and the ... Geagea destroyed all that. The Shiaa were ready to loose many MPs just to regive the christians what is rightffully theirs. so please man ya oul chi 2elo ta3me ya skot

Thumb geha 15 May 2013, 15:24

keserweneh
to answer your question, you need first to read properly:
I said his other plan, and by that I mean the following:
the next step for hizbushaitan is to go for a new taef, and that for the sole purpose of getting now what they did not get during taef thanks to the support of the sunni community (yes we owe them a lot).
what hizbushaitan wanted then was a division of power over 3, which would give us Christians the third instead of half now.
do you get it now? aoun is helping them reach that provided they fill his pockets with the 30 pieces of gold....

Default-user-icon mustapha o. ghalayini (Guest) 15 May 2013, 14:38

the lebanese christians won,hakim is proving that lebanon is his first priority,samir is the most lebanese from all politicians we happen to have.it is the first step towards killing secterianism virus.

Thumb kesrweneh 16 May 2013, 14:51

Tayib Geha, hwo can Hizballah do so if he needs 2/3 of the parliement in irder to change the constitution while the christians have 1/2 the MPs?? so please start thinking instead of believing anything a "masoul ta3bi2a" throughs at u
and banima3roof, stla2a mama: michel Moussa ( Greek catholic charki saida) Isamel Sukaria (Sunni)Assaad hardan (nabatyeh greek orthodox, sure he is Kawmi but elected with 80% Chiaa votes)

Thumb habib 15 May 2013, 12:31

Ya sha3ba lobnan l3azim khontokom sama7toni wlama rje3et ntalhabtoni wbel riasi wa3adtoni wbelhezeb tahamtoni wma3 nizam alasad 7ashartoni jennantoni wel wel welk skotoooooo

Thumb habib 15 May 2013, 12:32

Whala2 jehez la soaletkon

Thumb condor 15 May 2013, 12:54

Nobody stood or stands by the Christians except the constitution and the Taeif Accord. Christians don't need favors from anybody and all this talk is sectarian trash!

Thumb Chupachups 15 May 2013, 12:54

I think parliament will convine when the myriam Klink vote law will be proposed

Thumb kesrweneh 15 May 2013, 13:28

Slash lebanon is a confessional country and as long as we have 64 christian MPs and 64 Muslim MPs it will still be the case Ya Slash. as long as the PM is sunni the spokesman is Shiaa and the president is maronite it will still be the case ya Slash. So as long as it's a sectarian country lets be pragmatic about it and give every confession its right. BTW I am really disappointed by your position most of the LF I know are really shocked and Furious against geagea treason

Thumb kesrweneh 15 May 2013, 13:30

you put Bachir pic as your avatar and then go for a judas like GEAgea. man you and slash are probably the only Geageaist left. do you honestly approve geagea last minute treason?

Thumb benzona 15 May 2013, 15:31

Judas, is considered by Syrian Christians! As Jesus' twin brother. To them, he's Thomas. Why not! Anyway, judas wasn't a traitor at all, it's Jesus whom asked him to betray him. So slash is a 1.OOO.OOO% right.

Thumb primesuspect 15 May 2013, 19:25

Santa Flamethrower, expert in holy words. he'll purify our souls by burning them with his divine fire.

Default-user-icon Neutral (Guest) 15 May 2013, 14:46

+1
Why do christians have to offer the sacrifices all of the time ? Stop trying to justify the acts of some christians today. The christians did not elect their representatives since Taef and at the historical chance to have the oportunity to do so, christian divisions were more powerful than their community interests and it is the community who is paying the price. It is not the case for Chiaa, sunnis or druze. When their community is threatened they are able to achieve unity. Therefore christians will continue to do so and for a long time. The first reaction is to try to treat the other christian of delusion or treatury but in reality, all of christian leaders are not at the level of responsibility they need to be. But unfortunately some more than others. Christians forget about Lebanon, your leaders are all for their own interests and are incapable of guarantying your future. Therefore go live abroad....

Missing allouchi 15 May 2013, 14:59

How can any patriotic Lebanese support the Orthodox Proposal? the world is moving forward but this law will move us backward. We should all be equal Lebanese citizens and enjoy religious freedom...we all know that most of our representatives are crooks and they use our religious bias to their advantage...what we need is true secular state and may the best party win...

Thumb geha 15 May 2013, 15:13

for those who do not see it clearly, the orthodox law is not just confessional, it is sectarian to the extreme.
any law that forces elections by secte only is extremely sectarian and pushes people to become cocooned in their secte to the extreme.
for anyone Lebanese who has a dream of reaching a confession less country, this law is the anti thesis of that wish.
I am surprised that some people who tag themselves wanting non confession elections to be voicing their support for such a law.
anyway it is now clear that it is no more on the table.

Thumb geha 15 May 2013, 15:15

I know that for hizbushaitan to exist, they need to keep driving the sectarian sentiment, so it is for aoun to be elected.
but is it a reason for literate people not to see through them?
we need multi confessional parties if we are going to move some day towards a secular state and not the other way round.

Thumb geha 15 May 2013, 15:18

ft
why is it each time you run out of ideas you start insulting others?
if you do not have something to put out to debate, you should conced the debate and not insult others!
please grow up...

Thumb benzona 15 May 2013, 15:32

So, can we open the champagne?

Missing allouchi 15 May 2013, 18:22

go ahead but stop burning yourself :)

Thumb benzona 15 May 2013, 23:15

LOL, it's the spirit of the revolution, the so-called Arab spring!

Thumb geha 15 May 2013, 15:42

insults as usual when you cannot debate :)

Thumb geha 15 May 2013, 15:44

:)
actually you are the one who has proved sevral times your inability to comprehend what is written :)
you are funny FT, but your comment does not answer the question: why do you insult others when you cannot debate anymore?

Thumb beiruti 15 May 2013, 16:22

Aoun said that his plan would offer "fair and equal representation for all sides". Of course, as any lawyer can tell you, there is no such thing as "fair and equal" between parties unless both parties are of equal strength. Lebanon is a confessional system. Demographic numbers have Christians in a minority, not in equal numbers with Moslems and Druze. Fair is one thing, equal is quite another.
When it comes to rights, we all have them, but my rights end where the exercise of them infringes on yours. Equal in the Lebanese Confessional system is not fair given the disparity in the population. It is unstable and if adopted would result in greater erosion of Christian power in the long run.

Thumb beiruti 15 May 2013, 16:24

And then he said, "the Christian parties that did not back the draft law of violating the principle of coexistence in Lebanon". An incredible statement. When only Christians vote for Christians, only Moslems for Moslems, only Druze for Druze and none are reliant on the other for the votes necessary to hold the seat, this creates the worst sort of confessional system. This is confessional polarization that will insure paralysis of the entire government. This may be on the agenda for Hezbollah so that it can prosecute its Syrian War, but it is not on the Lebanese agenda.

Missing people-power 15 May 2013, 18:49

Aoun does not understand what "democracy" means. If a majority does not agree on a certain law, then it should not pass as a law. That is democracy.

Default-user-icon Youssef (Guest) 15 May 2013, 20:50

Aoun you are the man.
You are a real Christian.
You protect Christian right.
I do not follow you and anyone, but this time you deserve all my respect.

Thumb chrisrushlau 15 May 2013, 21:09

"And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, and they'll know we are Christians by our love."

Missing peace 15 May 2013, 21:33

how come christians have lost their rights when they represent half of the parliament representing 30 to 40% of the population! lol...

why can t a sunni vote for a christian or a chia if he feels so? his voice is denied then! it is just antidemocratic.

this aoun makes me laugh, his logic is aimed at brainless people who cannot think by themselves.... he talks by syllogism so people believe what he says is logic and smart when it is just plain stupid... i guess he addresses the level of his followers...

and if the politicians REALLY wanted to implement TAEF, they should end sectarianism as it is clearly specified in the accords, i guess that s why aoun hates taef. lol!

Missing samiam 16 May 2013, 09:42

does he ever NOT complain--it seems that all of his 'statements' lately have been complaints. After a while, you just tune him out as he has become an elderly curmudgeon.

Now, if he would take the time and actually explain why things should be the way they are instead of complaining that they didn't happen, he may garner a bit more respect outside the usual ft crowd.