Al-Rahi Seeking to Hold Meeting Among Top Maronite Leaders on Electoral Law

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has invited Lebanon’s top Maronite leaders to Bkirki on August 25 for talks on the new electoral law, An Nahar daily reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said that the expected event would be the second meeting between Phalange leader Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Marada movement head Suleiman Franjieh since the talks they held in Bkirki in April.

Through the August meeting, al-Rahi seeks to find common ground among the March 8 and 14 officials amid renewed tension mainly between Aoun and Geagea, An Nahar reported.

The patriarch is also seeking to put the country’s inter-Christian relations under a single umbrella and guarantee a common viewpoint on diminishing the size of the electoral district.

The first positive answer came from Franjieh, who during his visit to Bkirki on Friday, said he backs any draft law proposed by Bkirki. But it remains to be seen if Aoun, who has the largest Christian bloc in parliament and a big number of ministers in cabinet, would agree to such a proposal.