Geagea Says Resignation of Cabinet Priority, Reveals Hybrid Electoral Law Ready

Lebanese Forces leader MP Samir Geagea lashed out on Wednesday at the cabinet for its failure to carry out its tasks, revealing that the March 14 hybrid electoral law is almost ready.

“The resignation of the cabinet and the electoral law are our priorities,”' Geagea said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper.

He pointed out that the cabinet's resignation “will be considered as an accomplishment as it failed to deal with all the security incidents storming the country... The government even failed to make up its mind regarding the referral of the new wage scale for public employees to the parliament.”

The controversial new salary scale has deepened the gap between the cabinet and the Syndicate Coordination Committee, which has been holding an open-ended strike for the past month.

The government argues that it's mulling the sources to fund the salary hike to safeguard the economy from any repercussion.

Asked about the delicate security situation, Geagea denounced the recent assault against Dar al-Fatwa clerics, saying: “Its a insidious endeavor that aims at creating a Sunni-Shiite strife.”

He noted that those behind the incident will repeat it, slamming the cabinet for not holding an urgent session to resolve the matter.

On Sunday night two Dar al-Fatwa clerics Sheikh Mazen Hariri and Sheikh Ahmed Fakhran were assaulted while passing through the Beirut area of Khandaq al-Ghamiq.

Another two clerics, one of them identified as Sheikh Omar al-Imami, were assaulted in the southern suburb of Shiyyah.

Tensions soared in the wake of the two attacks as angry protesters blocked roads in several regions across Lebanon.

Geagea said that the incident is similar to the case of ex-Minister Michel Samaha, who was accused along with Syrian security official Ali Mamlouk with planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Lebanon.

"The remnants of (Syrian President Bashar) Assad regime aim at provoking sedition in Lebanon,” Geagea considered, calling on the judiciary to carry out the investigation to reveal the real culprits behind the incident.

Geagea also urged the state to end the spread of arms across Lebanon, in particular in the northern city of Tripoli that witnessed over the weekend clashes between the neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh.

The city has witnessed repeated armed clashes in recent months due to tensions between the rival neighborhoods over the situation in the neighboring country Syria.

Concerning the situation along the Lebanese-Syrian border, Geagea said that the state rejects the deployment of the army along the border so that “Hizbullah would be able to freely help the Syrian (regime).”

On Tuesday, President Michel Suleiman tasked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour with sending a letter of protest to Syria over staging air raids in the northeastern border area that violated Lebanese sovereignty.

Lebanese parties are sharply divided over the crisis in Syria as the March 8 alliance continuously expresses its support to Assad, while the March 14 camp backs the popular revolt.

The international community and analysts have expressed fears that the conflict in Syria may spill over into Lebanon.

Concerning the controversy over the new electoral law, Geagea revealed that contacts are ongoing between his party, Speaker Nabih Berri, the Phalange party and al-Mustaqbal to reach common ground over the issue.

The hybrid draft-law combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems but the main obstacle to a deal among the different blocs lies in the division of districts.

Geagea said that the hybrid electoral law proposed by al-Mustaqbal and the PSP is similar to the one suggested by Berri, noting that the only difference is in the division of seats.

The speaker insists on the election of half of the MPs under the winner-takes-all system and the remaining half under the proportional representation system, while the PSP is insisting on allowing 70 percent of candidates to be chosen under the first system and 30 percent under the second system.

Concerning Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's rejection to any hybrid electoral law, Geagea said that Berri should be communicating with Aoun and Hizbullah over the matter,

“Aoun doesn't know yet the details of the proposal to rejects it... The draft-law provides Christians with their rights,” the Christian leader said.

A consensus over an electoral law has yet to be reached after the Orthodox Gathering's proposal that considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, was opposed by President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, al-Mustaqbal bloc, the PSP, and the independent Christian MPs of the March 14 opposition.

They argue that the proposal harms the social fabric and increases sectarian tension.

“The 1960 law (which is based on winner-takes-all system) is over so is the proposal to adopt Lebanon as one district based on proportional representation,” Geagea said.

Suleiman and the premier have signed a decree that sets the elections on June 9 based on the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 polls over the lack of agreement between the bickering parliamentary blocs.

Their call have drawn the ire of the March 8 majority coalition and several March 14 parties.

Geagea expressed hope that the rival parties would agree on an electoral law to carry out the elections even if it was postponed “technically,” as any political vacuum will put the country at risk.