Aoun: I'm Not Afraid of Any Electoral Law

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Monday stressed that he is “not afraid of any (electoral) law,” noting that he would win the majority of the Christian seats even if the proposed proportional representation law was not adopted.

“I prefer to lose a number of seats under the proportional system for the sake of true representation, improving scrutiny and abolishing sectarianism,” Aoun added.

“We will remain in the government because the price of our departure is chaos and the inability to form another government,” Aoun stressed.

“We are achieving accomplishments even if they are obstructing us,” he went on to say.

Aoun also noted that a parliamentary majority supported by a popular majority would have the nerve to take any decision it wants.

Aoun on Sunday suggested adopting the electoral law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering, under which each sect would elect its own lawmakers, after the government’s endorsement of an electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 electorates infuriated the opposition March 14 camp and Druze leader Walid Jumblat.

“Resorting to the electoral law adopted by the Orthodox Gathering will be normal after the rejection of a law based on proportional representation,” Aoun during an iftar banquet organized by FPM’s Beirut department:

“We have made a sacrifice by accepting the proportional representation system, as we would lose around 10 seats in Mount Lebanon after we claimed all the seats in the past,” Aoun noted, saying he accepted the law to secure fair representation for all minorities.

“The importance of an electoral law based on proportional representation is that we will get rid of the sectarian and inflammatory rhetoric,” he added.

Aoun stressed that a proportional electoral law ensures fair representation for all of the country’s components.

“During the Bkirki meeting, I did not support the law calling for each sect to elect its own lawmakers. The Lebanese Forces and the Phalange Party suggested the Orthodox Gathering law and we suggested proportionality,” Aoun revealed.

Aoun noted, however, that the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal did not enjoy consensus among the Lebanese.