Hariri Rejects Proportionality in the Presence of Hizbullah’s Arms
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Ex-Premier Saad Hariri slammed efforts to adopt a parliamentary elections law based on proportionality, saying the threat of Hizbullah’s arms closes the door to democratic competition.
In an interview published in al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday, Hariri said: “Proportionality is a means for people or political movements that do not enjoy absolute majority in a certain region to be represented in parliament based on their proportional size.”
“But we all know that certain regions in Lebanon are blocked to democratic competition due to arms and the threat to use them against those who reject the status quo,” al-Mustaqbal movement leader said in reference to Hizbullah.
He held President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati responsible for the adoption of the proportional representation draft-law proposed by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel amid the presence of arms.
“There have been instructions by the head of the regime in Syria to leaderships and officials in the Lebanese government to impose a law that would break al-Mustaqbal movement, its allies and all those who stand against the death machine in Syria and the Syrian hegemony on Lebanon,” Hariri said.
Challenging the alleged instructions, he said: “This won’t be the case.”
Asked about the assassination attempt on Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea earlier this month, Hariri said: “This criminal terrorist attempt falls mainly in the framework of the next parliamentary elections.”
“Those who tried to kill Geagea wanted to eliminate an entire political team from the polls” in 2013, he said.
The attempt on the LF leader’s life “put Lebanon on a new track,” he added.
But Hariri challenged the perpetrators, saying the March 14 opposition will compete in the elections as a united independence movement in its fight for Lebanon’s democracy and Arabism.
The former premier reiterated his support for the Syrian people, saying “any democratic change in Syria concerns us given that it would be a victory for the free will of Syrians.”
The Assad regime has been clamping down on protestors since March last year.
The U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution on Saturday on the deployment of observers and called upon the Syrian government to "implement visibly" all commitments under special envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan -- including the withdrawal of all troops and heavy guns from Syrian cities.
15 April 2012, 08:47
36
the proportionaal law would be the best thing we need in the future, but not now, where the equilibrium of forces is unbalanced with the presence of hizbushaitan weapons.
currently what is happening is that:
- hizbushaitan controls who votes for the shia and some christians.
- Al Mustakbal controls who gets elected for the sunnis and some christians.
- Christians major forces control who gets elected within the different christian sectes, like orthodoxe, catholics,....
I agree the current system does not work and does not allow for having good people reach parliament, but as long as there are weapons on the ground, what we have currently is best.
15 April 2012, 12:43
22
@FT
As I said in my other post: we missed your enlightened comments on what the syrian embassador said regarding the new tv photographer.
Anyway, and just to make it clearer to you:
- the 1960 law is balanced for the time being and the extent of the threat of weapons is known and limited.
- currently all political parties are hanging on the life of one person! how about the fpm? when aoun dies, what will remain of the fpm?
15 April 2012, 12:50
23
Your comment is a laughable attempt at being serious. If you really don't know how the 60s law limit monolithic voting blocks then you have no business making serious comments.
As to the second item comment. Ya ayni aleyk ya fathal, oula la halak wa generalac wa sayedac ya zaki. Rouh khayet bi ghayr hal msalleh. Heed the saying, illi baytou min azez ma bi rashek bil hjar.
15 April 2012, 16:24
00
FlameThrower my fellow Shiite brother in all things not a separate entity from Syria, under the proportional representation the threat of weapons is extended on the whole country as opposed to the a majority based system where the the threat of weapons only affects the districts where the weapons are. I know it's hard for us to understand that what with the extensive Ashura brain damage our bee2at al hadinat suffer from.
The magnificent GMA was ecstatic about the 1960 law as the FPM election billboards of 2009 advertised.
15 April 2012, 11:22
45
You see how absurd the situation is? If Geagea dies, then an "entire political team is eliminated". How healthy is that?
When will Lebanon get rid of "person cults"??
15 April 2012, 12:44
36
if aoun dies, the whole fpm will vanish! what is it you are trying to say?
15 April 2012, 18:03
23
I don't quite agree. Sheik Bachir died a 30 years ago and the LF is alive and kicking. Clearly there is something right with its organizational structure.
On the other hand, all organizations depend on strong leadership to succeed. Strong leadership is not the same thing as personality cult.
15 April 2012, 12:29
34
@ulpianus unfortunate state of affairs to be sure. That Lebanese still idolize personalities does not bode well for our society, however, I am hopeful that the new era dawning in the Middle East will eventually change that. The silver lining, if there be one, is that at least M14 parties have started to realize that as has Jumblat whereas M8 parties are still very much into the personality cult. Witness Aoun and HA supporters' behavior in that regard.
That an attempt on Geagea's life took place at all indicates that backers of M8 believe that M14's philosophy is spreading faster than theirs and it has them worried. Change is coming that will make a difference albeit if it is going to stick it will need time.
15 April 2012, 18:26
00
Where do u get your statistics from please share all our opinions r retarted but u seem to be the only one here who is wise
15 April 2012, 20:34
01
I guess everyone can site isolated facts here and there in support of their positions and be correct in those isolated cases. However, if those isolated cases were indeed the overall norm then no one, least of all Sunnis and Druzes, will be pushing for the 60s law. Ideally, one man one vote should be the adopted standard as it is in the West. In Lebanon that will not work as yet nor will proportionality in light of one none secular entity holding the sword of a militia armed to the teeth over everybody's head especially their own sect. In this case, smaller districts make for more even representation.
BTW, since you bashed Aoun and everyone else but not HA, now we know who pays you!
15 April 2012, 16:45
10
So the reject now rejects from half way around the world! Cheikh Imbecile leading a band of imbeciles and are we expected to see change? Sure.
15 April 2012, 16:46
10
What is worse fr elections? The presence of Arms or the presence of petro-dollars that buys the votes?
15 April 2012, 16:59
10
In which penthouse, in what 5 star hotel ,in what country did Richy Ich blather. Harari only matters to Lebanon on the pages of Naharnet, The Daily Star and the al-Musta rag. Does anyone really like this guy? Representational government means an ibdictment for Saad and some of his false witness friends.
15 April 2012, 17:03
00
He who is afraid of proportionality in elections is afraid of democracy and wants to stick to feodalism and secterianisme
We still remember who designed the ghazi canaans electoral law and for what purpose
Power to the people of Lebanon
God bless 10452
15 April 2012, 17:07
00
We still remember who designed the ghazi Canaan electoral law and for what purpose
Proportionality is the gateway for a secular country
God bless lebanon
15 April 2012, 17:26
00
@FT, Jebran Bassil lost Batroun because Batroun didnt want a man that was allied to the murderer of Sami Hanna the Helicpter pilot.
15 April 2012, 17:39
00
If proportionality is not to be and our stooge leaders want to stay in a religious electoral law of the 60ties
Let the orthodox plan work ie let the Christians elect their own and the Muslims their own
15 April 2012, 19:03
22
Karim, Arabism is an impossible pill for me to swallow as well, and the alliance of the LF with someone like Hariri, who seems to say "Arabism" in almost every sentence he utters, can be confusing at times. It is a complex issue. We are not Arabs but we want to be best friends with the Arabs. It should be possible. Please read the following analysis that touches on the subject:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanon-samir-geagea-discovers-arabism
15 April 2012, 20:59
22
@jabal10452 thanks for the informative link from Al Akhbar no less! Like I said in many posts, Geagea is the only one making relevant and sensible remarks and positions. He appeared to have really internalized the edict "Those who do not learn from their historical mistakes are doomed to repeat them"; Aoun is a prime case in point.
For Christians in Lebanon and the whole ME, contracting upon themselves and still espousing the defunct principle of minorities support and defend each other instead of opening up and embracing the reality of interacting with and integrating into the majority constituents of the Arab ME is a terrible mistake both tactically and strategically. The Sunnis of Lebanon have finally espoused the principle of Lebanon first and then Arabism and Geagea recognized that fact and is intent on capitalizing on it for the sake of Christian presence in Lebanon and the whole ME.
15 April 2012, 22:07
24
@lebnanfirst I wholeheartedly agree with you. Samir is thinking long-term. It is not the mere survival of the Christians in the Middle East that he is concerned about. He is trying to create an environment where Christian communities thrive and make a difference in the ME. Thank God we have a leader with a vision. I pray that he'll live to see this through.
15 April 2012, 19:25
00
Actually karim more accurately pan-Arabism is for March 8 thank you Syria anti-Lebanon like the Baath, SSNP, Osama Saad Naserites, Karameism, Abdel Rahim Mrad...
Yes to Lebanon first and only.
No to Hassan Nasrallah's "Lebanon first but there's also a second and a third".
NB: The February 14 BS was an Al Watan invention that the imbeciles in M8 thank you Syria anti-Lebanon tried to push for while without success but still being peddled by a few of the imbeciles's imbeciles. Hell the imbecile in chief Aoun stopped using it.
15 April 2012, 20:17
61
Harriri is a politician and as such he wants to keep the biggest block possible at the expense of real representation, it's his right but he can't expect his christian allies to follow the mvt and loose the chance of enlarging their blocks, or should he?? and as for the excuse he gave it's really irrelevant, if weapons have such a high influence on elections how come Hizballah lost in 2009? and furthermore y bother and do the elections if weapons will influence the result
16 April 2012, 01:57
13
Kesrweneh,
And since Hexbullah lost the elections in 2009 how come they formed the Government and no decisions can be made without their approvals (IT IS THE WEAPONS).
16 April 2012, 09:21
20
Hezballah had weapons when all other gouvernements were created after May7 & why wasen't jumblatt scared then? the man practiced his favorite hobby of spinning, who knows when he will spin back to M14 again? just be patient
16 April 2012, 09:57
03
FT you keep calling Geagea people of my generation "burned out". I can assure you we're full of energy. What's more, we've grown older and wiser. Life does that you.
Sure the Chritians are learned and cultivated and get good jobs in the Gulf. But how much say do they have in the politics of their respective countries? The only Christian community with any meaningful influence is right here in Lebanon.
We are in disagreement with the current politics of Bkirki. Essentially, the Patriarch is saying that he supports the Assad regime because its replacement will be detrimental to Syrian Christians. The LF does not support this reasoning. It is OK to respectfully disagree with your spiritual leader. Our Patriarch is not Nasrallah whose followers merrily jump off a cliff at the mere nod of his head.
Instead of alienating the great numbers of Muslims who will invariably gain power in the entire Arab world, Geagea is engaging in a dialog with them. How is this bad?
15 April 2012, 21:36
00
The proportional representation is a real change from the current backward law of 1960 which only breeds the same corrupt status quo.
Sadly,I have read all the comments above and I have to admitt they are all sound sectarian. This shows how bankrupt the Lebanese political system has become.
15 April 2012, 21:51
24
M8 wants a new law: normal as even with the 1960 law which they have claimed for last time they lost so they try to find a law which will suit them better....
16 April 2012, 11:24
00
That's your retort? The law is 60 years old so automatically it is bad and those who think it is not bad are nuts? Laughable logic. Remind me not to send you any aged wine since we know you will not appreciate it!
15 April 2012, 22:12
04
Shiites votes, Sunni votes, Druze votes, Christian votes, whatever happened to a Lebanese vote?
The problem is Lebanon's confessional system. People don't vote on merit, they vote on the one representing their sect. How does anyone expect to have a united Lebanon when its people are divided? This has nothing to do with Hezbollah's arms, let alone Hariri and Geagea's arms. The main threat to democracy is not weapons, but the divided population of Lebanon.
Just because we have elections, doesn't mean we have democracy. Lebanon has a flawed democracy.T he Lebanese people vote on who represents their tribal leader. A sunni will vote for a Sunni, a Shiite will vote for a Shiite, and a Christian will vote for a Christian. Whether one has better ideas for Lebanon than another is out of the question. The people don't care about that. All the people want is for their sect to be represented in parliament. How do we expect our politicians then to serve all Lebanese people?
16 April 2012, 11:30
01
Agreed, meritocracy should be the only gage. Problem is judging by your posts if the applicants are Sunnis (I think you refer to them as Wahabis) then meritocracy is out. Therein lies the rub.
15 April 2012, 22:15
03
I dream of a Lebanon that where political parties consist of multiple sects, for the people view themselves as Lebanese and just Lebanese. Unfortunately, the Civil War never ended; it still lives on in our psychology.
Talk about democracy.
16 April 2012, 01:55
10
Karim,
Good start, but finish your thoughts.... I am sure you also meant to say "and no to welayat faqih, SSNP, and all that is not "Lebanon First".
16 April 2012, 01:59
01
gcb1 ..... myself and many others are thinking exactly what you wrote. Good job. Patriotism is dwindling and that is the risk for Lebanon.
16 April 2012, 09:26
20
for those who live by the sword, will be killed by the sword.is also applied to Geagea and the Gemayel family no?
