Jumblat Slams 'Complicated' Electoral Law as Marada Rejects 'Preferred Vote' Mechanism

Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat on Tuesday criticized the proportional representation electoral law that the parties have agreed on as “complicated,” as the Marada Movement rejected the mechanism of counting the so-called “preferred vote.”

“In Greece, the sun shines creating serenity and beauty, while in Lebanon a complicated and complex electoral law is being born -- a law that is complicated like its makers and fabricators,” Jumblat tweeted sarcastically from Greece.

Public Works and Transport Minister Youssef Fenianos of the Marada Movement meanwhile expressed his movement's rejection of the mechanism of counting the so-called “preferred vote.”

“We are opposed to counting the preferred vote in the administrative district and we want it to be counted in the electoral district, because we have candidates in all northern districts while the Free Patriotic Movement only has a single candidate in Batroun,” Fenianos said after he took part in an electoral law meeting at the Grand Serail.

MP Wael Abu Faour of Jumblat's Democratic Gathering bloc meanwhile described the law that has been agreed on as “the worst possible law.”

As per the political agreement that was reached earlier in the day at the Grand Serail, the so-called preferred vote will be counted in the 26 administrative districts and not in the 15 electoral districts, a demand that the Free Patriotic Movement had long called for.

The FPM argues that counting the preferred vote in the smaller administrative districts would grant Christians a higher ability to choose their representatives with their own votes.

The preferred vote is a mechanism through which a voter chooses their preferred candidate on a certain electoral ballot, granting that candidate an advantage during the distribution of seats on winners.