Miqati to Sign Elections Decree before March 9

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stated that the Lebanese political powers have sufficient time to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law before the formation of the authority aimed at supervising the polls, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Sunday.

He told the daily that he will sign the decree to call on electoral bodies to hold the elections on June 9.

The formation of the authority to oversee the elections would either take place on March 22 or April 9 after the necessary consultations are held.

The premier's sources told the daily however that Miqati may delay “for a few days” signing the decree to hold the elections to allow for further discussions over a new electoral law seeing as an agreement over it has not yet been reached.

President Michel Suleiman and Miqati had agreed on Thursday to hold the elections on June 9.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stated that signing the decree will take place before March 11.

The rival parties are yet to agree on a draft law after the adoption of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal by the joint parliamentary committees, which drew a sharp debate among the opposition's faction and with rival coalitions.

The polls are likely to be postponed if the parliament gives the green light to the proposal that divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.

But the draft law has been rejected by al-Mustaqbal bloc, the centrist National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat, and the March 14 opposition’s Christian independent MPs. It has been also criticized by Suleiman and Miqati.