Rival MPs in 'Vicious Cycle' as Electoral Subcommittee to Meet Again Tuesday

An electoral subcommittee will hold talks next Tuesday, its third meeting since it resumed sessions earlier in the week in a last-ditch effort to agree on a controversial vote law that has kept the rival parties in a “vicious cycle.”

During Thursday's meeting, Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan proposed a chart that is seen as a practical measure to bring viewpoints closer, the subcommittee chairman, lawmaker Robert Ghanem, said.

The chart focuses on a proposal that had been made by Speaker Nabih Berri and allows each lawmaker to make his comment on it, Ghanem told reporters at parliament.

“None of the members of the subcommittee have vetoes and all are open to anything that would allow us to reach consensus,” he said.

Berri's proposal lies in adopting a hybrid draft-law that is based on the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems.

Change and Reform bloc MP Alain Aoun, who is a subcommittee member, told reporters that the adoption of a new law is essential given that the 1960 law is rejected.

“We hope that we would make progress next week but the problem will not be resolved unless we receive clear answers on the improvement of the representation of Christians,” Aoun said.

Ahead of the session, the MP told reporters that the 1960 law can't be adopted as long as some parties reject it.

The 1960 law that considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system was used in the 2009 elections with some amendments. The majority of parties have rejected it for not guaranteeing a fair representation for all the Lebanese, mainly Christians.

Despite their criticism of the law, the rival parties failed to agree on a new vote law since the subcommittee was established in October last year.

Its members have until May 15 to agree on a new law before Berri calls for a parliamentary session to reach a breakthrough.

MP Ali Fayyad, who represents Hizbullah in the subcommittee, expressed on Thursday readiness to approve any draft-law that the Christian parties agree on.

But al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat criticized him for taking the dispute on the vote law back to the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal that considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own lawmakers under a proportional representation system.

But the proposal was later dropped by its main Christian backers – the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Phalange party and the Marada movement – that also agreed not to run in the polls based on the 1960 law.

“We have a real opportunity from now till Tuesday to make comments and amendments to the number of qadas and governorates proposed by Berri,” Fatfat said. “If each side has an intention to reach consensus then it should make its suggestions.”

Phalange MP Sami Gemayel reiterated that some subcommittee members are attempting to adopt a proposal that is worse than the 1960 law. “We will reject this democratically and give ourselves the right to vote against it.”

“The proposals that will be made on Tuesday should improve representation and nothing else,” he said.

Adwan in his turn said: “We are fed up with this vicious cycle.”

“It is time to tell the Lebanese that we have reached an agreement or ... head to parliament before May 15 to propose our viewpoints and adopt the draft-law that receives the majority's backing,” he said.