Miqati Urges Politicians to Be Reasonable, Says Electoral Law Takes Lebanon to Shores of Safety

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Wednesday slammed politicians for widening the divide among the Lebanese, stressing that this year's parliamentary polls are the key to stability.

“The elections are the key to political stability while the electoral law is the gateway to cross the bridge to the shores of safety,” Miqati said during the launching ceremony of the second educational development project at the Grand Serail in the presence of several cabinet ministers, officials and ambassadors.

He lamented that the Lebanese were “trapped” in their differences over an electoral draft-law.

“We want an electoral law that represents the unity of the Lebanese and not a law that creates a further divide among them,” he said.

The prime minister warned that any law that is based on sectarian divisions, revives unwanted proposals of federalism and takes the country to the pre-Taef accord era.

Such an attempt would take Lebanon to dangerous levels and compels us to hold onto the Taef agreement, he said.

Miqati urged all parties in Lebanon to be reasonable and patriotic while deliberating on an electoral draft-law out of their keenness on Lebanon's unity, stability and sovereignty.

In remarks to As Safir daily on Wednesday, Miqati held onto an electoral draft-law proposed by his government but advocated a combination of winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems as the most suitable formula.

He expressed his support to the draft-law adopted in August and referred to parliament for approval. It calls for dividing Lebanon into 13 districts based on proportionality.

“The ball is now in the court of the parliament which has the final say on the electoral draft-law suggested by the government or any other proposal,” Miqati said.

But several parliamentary blocs, including the opposition al-Mustaqbal movement and the centrist National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat, have rejected a proportional representation system in any draft-law that would govern this year's parliamentary elections.

This rejection, in addition to differences between blocs on several other proposals, have prompted Miqati to suggest the combination of the winner-takes-all and proportional systems.

Half of the MPs could be elected based on one system and the remaining 64 based on the other, he told As Safir.

If rival lawmakers holding meetings as part of a parliamentary subcommittee were capable of agreeing on such a draft-law, then they could appease both Muslims and Christians, the PM said.

Such a proposal would guarantee the right balance and the right representation for all factions, he added.

Miqati expressed the government's readiness to organize the elections. But he did not hold onto his cabinet, saying he does not object to allowing another government to carry out the mission on condition that it is formed following consensus between all major parties.

“I don't mind to resign if there was agreement on an electoral draft-law and a cabinet made up of personalities who haven't announced their candidacies to the elections was formed to oversee and manage the elections,” he said.