Mustaqbal, PSP, Independents, Miqati to Boycott Parliament Session as Orthodox Proposal Only Item on Agenda
Several parliamentary blocs announced on Monday that they will boycott the parliamentary session on May 15 as the parliament's general-secretariat placed only the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal on the agenda of legislative rounds set to begin this week.
"Al Mustaqbal bloc, the National Struggle Front, caretaker premier Miqati and independent MPs will boycott the parliamentary session dedicated to discuss the Orthodox draft on May 15," Future television reported.
MTV noted earlier that al-Mustaqbal and the Progressive Socialist Party's blocs will not attend Wednesday's session.
The parliament's bureau met in Ain el-Tineh on Monday to agree on the agenda of the sessions that Speaker Nabih Berri has called for starting Wednesday to approve a new electoral draft-law.
But Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) said that the members of the bureau agreed not to make any statement, a sign they hadn't reached consensus on the agenda of the sessions.
An Nahar daily said that the bureau's members were divided between those seeking to put on the agenda only electoral draft-laws - among them is Berri - and the other team backed by al-Mustaqbal bloc that wants the sessions to include other proposals and draft-laws as well.
The first session will be held on Wednesday. Berri has been quoted as saying that he would allow MPs to discuss several electoral proposals before calling for a vote on the so-called Orthodox Gathering plan which divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own lawmakers under a proportional representation system.
The draft-law has been approved by the joint parliamentary committees despite the objection of al-Mustaqbal, the centrist National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat and March 14 alliance's independent Christian lawmakers.
But two days before the start of the sessions, the rival parties hadn't yet reached consensus on a hybrid proposal which was the latest plan being discussed by the different blocs as an alternative to the Orthodox plan.
It aimed at appeasing all sides by including the proportional representation and winner-takes-all systems.
A Lebanese Forces official, who was not identified told An Nahar, that the LF was waiting for the answers of the different parties on the hybrid proposal.
Parliamentary sources however ruled out any agreement on a vote law.
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