Sami Gemayel Meets Berri: Only 1960 Law Put to Rest, Joint Committees to Convene Next Week

Phalange bloc MP Sami Gemayel revealed on Monday that Speaker Nabih Berri will call the joint parliamentary committees to meet next week if an agreement is not reached over a new electoral law.

He said after holding talks with Berri at Ain el-Tineh: “No electoral draft law has been put to rest and the speaker is committed to the agreements reached at the parliamentary subcommittee.”

“The 1960 law is the only one that has been buried,” he added.

“No political faction is prepared to hold elections based on the 1960 law, which is why all other options are still open,” remarked Gemayel.

“The democratic path in agreeing on a new law must take its course,” he stressed.

Berri will call the joint parliamentary committees to session as soon as the subcommittee ends its meetings on Wednesday, continued the MP.

The parliamentary elections will be held based on a new amended law that would be agreed upon at parliament, stated Gemayel.

Asked if the law that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems can be adopted by the subcommittee, the MP responded: “We are studying this law at the subcommittee and hope that we can reach a result by Wednesday.”

After Monday's first session of the subcommittee, Free Patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun from the March 8 alliance confirmed that the gap between the subcommittee members was huge.

“It became clear through the discussions that the hybrid system will not be the solution so we should go to another stage or we should hold onto the Orthodox Gathering proposal,” he said.

Al-Akhbar newspaper had reported on Monday that the speaker had informed Musatqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora during a meeting last week that the “1960 and Orthodox Gathering law have been buried.”