Suleiman Advocates Government Proposed Electoral Draft-Law

President Michel Suleiman called on Tuesday for the adoption of an electoral draft-law proposed by the government in August by introducing amendments to it if need be.

During a speech in Baabda palace, Suleiman “invited (lawmakers) to start discussing a draft-law proposed by the cabinet and introduce the necessary amendments if the need arises.”

Suleiman has criticized the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal which projects Lebanon as a single district and calls on each sect to elect its own MPs based on proportionality.

The government's draft-law instead calls for dividing Lebanon into 13 medium-sized districts in a proportional representation system.

In his speech during the protocol New Year visit of the diplomatic corps to Baabda palace, the president cited several challenges facing the government, including maintaining consultations among the different parties to resolve the political crisis and luring the rival leaders back to the national dialogue table.

Other challenges include keeping the country away from violence and foreign interests and preparing for this year's parliamentary elections based on democratic means.

Describing the work of ambassadors based in Beirut as “diplomatic dynamism,” Suleiman hoped that the diplomats would encourage local and foreign parties to respect the Baabda Declaration, guarantee the support for the U.N. peacekeepers based south of the Litani river and push Israel to implement the remaining articles of Security Council resolution 1701.

Suleiman called for “providing military assistance to the Lebanese army to allow it to carry out its national duty in protecting the border and combating terrorism.”

He also urged donors and major powers to provide financial support to UNRWA, back the Lebanese economy and intensify efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and allow the Palestinians to return home.

Ahead of his speech, the papal ambassador to Lebanon Gabriele Caccia, addressed Suleiman on behalf of the diplomats, hoping that Lebanon would consolidate coexistence despite differences among different parties.

He also hoped that Lebanon would be able to confront the daily challenges facing it and that the parliamentary elections would be held democratically.

Caccia lauded Suleiman for sponsoring “the Baabda Declaration that reflects the free voice of Lebanon against the challenges in the region.”

The Declaration represents “the mobilization of Lebanese institutions and is a success that you achieved during your term,” he told the president.

Rival political leaders agreed in June to commit themselves to dialogue and political, security and media pacification, in what was dubbed as the Baabda Declaration.

They decided to control the tense Lebanese-Syrian border, back the Lebanese army financially and morally and keep Lebanon away from the policy of regional and international conflicts in an effort to spare it the negative repercussions of regional tensions.

“Lebanon sought hard to keep itself away from the negative repercussions of the conflict in Syria,” Suleiman said in his speech.

He reiterated his call for a political solution among all the parties to end the violence in the neighboring country.