Naharnet

Aoun Suggests Parliament Vote on Orthodox Gathering, then Hybrid Electoral Draft Laws

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun announced on Tuesday his readiness to have parliament vote on the Orthodox Gathering and hybrid electoral draft laws.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “I am prepared to accept the outcomes of the votes on both of the draft laws.”

“We will accept the result of the vote on the Orthodox Gathering law, whether it is endorsed or not,” he declared.

Moreover, he also voiced his readiness to accept parliament's approval of the hybrid draft law that was agreed upon by the Lebanese Forces, Mustaqbal bloc, and MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front.

Aoun warned that failure to reach an agreement over a new law will lead to the adoption of the 1960 electoral law for the elections or possibly lead to the extension of parliament's current term.

The Orthodox draft law, which considers Lebanon a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, is strongly backed by Hizbullah and the FPM.

It was initially approved by the FPM, Marada Movement, LF, and Phalange Party.

LF leader Samir Geagea announced last week however that his party no longer endorses the proposal because “it never had the chance to be adopted” due to the opposition to it by President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, the Mustaqbal Movement, and independent March 14 Christian MPs.

A parliament session was set to convene on May 15 in order to vote on the proposal, but the meeting was never held due to a lack of quorum.

A day before the session, the LF, Mustaqbal bloc, and National Struggle Front announced an agreement over a draft law that calls for 54 MPs to be elected under the winner-takes-all system and 46 percent via the proportional representation system.

The country would be divided into six governorates under proportionality and 27 districts under the winner-takes-all system.

Source: Naharnet


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