Berri’s Proportional Representation Proposal Hangs in the Balance

An initiative launched by Speaker Nabih Berri on the adoption of proportional representation is likely to collapse after Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat reiterated that he rejects proportionality.

Berri’s initiative calls for the adoption of that type of representation by considering Lebanon a single district in the 2013 parliamentary elections.

He dispatched Ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Mohammed Fneish to Baabda Palace on Tuesday to hold talks with President Michel Suleiman in their first step aimed at promoting the idea.

Khalil and the Hizbullah leader’s political aide, Hussein Khalil, met with Jumblat at his residence in Clemenceau on Thursday night. Minister Wael Abou Faour, MP Akram Shehayyeb and the secretary of the PSP, Dafer Nasser, also attended the talks.

Jumblat told An Nahar daily published Friday that he stressed the importance of dialogue and communication between the different parties in the country “because we ask for the exchange of viewpoints despite differences” in opinions.

“I discussed with the delegation different political issues and particularly the last parliamentary session” that was aimed at assessing the performance of Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet, he said.

Asked by An Nahar about Berri’s proposal, the PSP leader said: “I thank Speaker Berri for all his initiatives.”

However, Jumblat told Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV on Thursday that he rejects “any type of proportionality because it directly targets me.”

An Nahar and al-Akhbar said that the Druze chief’s visitors sought to appease his fears that proportionality would marginalize him, by saying that both Berri’s Amal movement and Hizbullah believe that a single electoral district or larger districts would limit sectarian tension in the country.

But Jumblat was adamant in holding onto his stance of rejecting proportionality under such circumstances, the dailies added.

In addition to Jumblat, former Premier Saad Hariri, who is the leader of the opposition al-Mustaqbal movement, has said he would reject the adoption of proportional representation in light of the presence of Hizbullah’s weapons.

Hariri reiterated on his twitter feed on Thursday that “there can be no discussions on proportional representation in light of the threat of arms that prevent candidates from running in the party’s areas of power.”