Berri Says 1960 Law 'Bad' but Sectarian Law 'Worse'

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday acknowledged that the 1960 electoral law which was endorsed in the 2009 polls is a “bad” law for the country but warned against replacing it with a “sectarian law.”

“It is not required to move from a bad prison into a worse prison, or from the 1960 law into a sectarian law,” said Berri during his weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting with lawmakers, warning against “sectarian incitement” in the electoral law debate.

"We hold onto the national principles and national approach in dealing with the electoral law and we will never support any sectarian approach towards the new law,” Berri added.

And warning of the regional threats surrounding Lebanon, the speaker called for “shunning the sectarian spirit and clinging to the national principles, away from any narrow or partisan interests.”

Berri was referring to a controversial law proposed by Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil that involves sectarian voting in its first round.

The political parties are meanwhile inching closer towards endorsing an electoral proposal suggested by Berri, which involves parliamentary elections under a full proportional representation system and the creation of a Senate.