High Expectations that Berri-Saniora Meeting would Facilitate Deal on Electoral Law
A meeting held between Speaker Nabih Berri and the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora will likely facilitate an agreement among rival lawmakers on the controversial electoral draft-law, media reports said Friday.
An Nahar daily quoted informed sources as saying that talks between Berri and Saniora at the head of a delegation from al-Mustaqbal could clarify the common ground between the March 8 majority alliance and the March 14 opposition alliance on the draft-law.
Al-Mustaqbal has criticized a government proposed bill to divide Lebanon into 13 districts based on a proportional representation system. It has also opposed the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal which envisages Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional system.
A parliamentary subcommittee tasked with studying electoral draft-laws and reaching common ground between the rival MPs from the majority and the opposition took a break till Monday to pave way for consultations on a proposal to combine the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems.
The meeting between Berri and Saniora was held on Friday afternoon in Ain el-Tineh.
“Contact with Berri hasn't stopped,” sources close to Saniora told As Safir daily about the head of the Amal movement that is part of the March 8 majority alliance, adding “we remain in contact (with him) out of our conviction that relations shouldn't be cut with anyone … in an attempt to find solutions.”
The sources refused to jump into conclusions but stressed their “openness to discuss all proposals and electoral draft-laws and finding solutions that comfort our partners in the nation.”
But they stressed al-Mustaqbal's rejection of attempts to target coexistence.
Al-Mustaqbal, which is among the leading parties of the March 14 opposition, has criticized the Orthodox Proposal for allegedly widening sectarian divisions.
As Safir daily quoted Berri's visitors as saying that the speaker is putting high hopes on Lebanon's political parties to swiftly reach an agreement on an electoral draft-law that satisfies all sides.
“The door is not closed to any electoral idea that would help (the MPs) reach common ground and achieve the expected results,” they said.
The meeting between Berri and Saniora came at a time the major parties of the March 8 alliance are intensifying their talks ahead of the parliamentary subcommittee meeting on Monday.
As Safir said that the Hizbullah leader's advisor, Hussein Khalil, Berri's aide Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Free Patriotic Movement's Energy Minister Jebran Bassil held a meeting on Thursday night.
Hizbullah official Wafiq Safa and Amal's security official Ahmed Baalbaki attended the talks. A Marada movement representative was also reportedly present.
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