PSP Tells Berri that Vote Law Proposal Doesn’t Guarantee Best Representation

A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party informed Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday that a vote law proposal he had made does not guarantee the best representation for all the Lebanese.

“We can't guarantee through Berri's proposal the best representation for all the Lebanese,” said caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour who visited the speaker in Ain el-Tineh at the head of the PSP delegation.

“We agreed with him that his proposal is not perfect,” he said.

However, “discussions will be ongoing to achieve consensus,” Abu Faour said. “We should benefit from the coming days. That's why there will be intense talks with Berri.”

Berri had reportedly proposed to the PSP chief, MP Walid Jumblat, a hybrid plan under which 55 to 60 percent of candidates are elected via the winner-takes-all system on condition that it is based on the one-man one-vote formula.

The remaining 40 to 45 percent of lawmakers would be elected under the proportional representation system.

The proposal also merges Shouf and Aley into a single electoral district.

Local dailies had said Monday that the PSP delegation would inform Berri about Jumblat's rejection of the proposal.

But Abu Faour stressed to reporters in Ain el-Tineh that there were solid ties between Jumblat and Berri.

“Our relations remain strong either on the cabinet formation process or on efforts to reach agreement on an electoral law,” he said.

“Reports that we came to inform Berri about Jumblat's objection to his proposal are untrue,” the caretaker minister added.

Jumblat also told local dailies that his ties with Berri will remain strong even if they had differences on the electoral law.

“The vote law is just a detail and the discussions on the electoral proposals will continue,” he said.

Berri, however, expressed regret at Jumblat's decision, saying the merger of the Shouf and Aley districts were in his favor.

He said he was even ready to approve granting the right of 60 percent of MPs be voted under the winner-takes-all system and 40 percent under the proportional representation system.

Berri stressed that the introduction of proportionality in the new draft-law was important to pave way for an advanced and developed political life in the future.

Rival lawmakers have failed to agree on a new vote law despite the majority of parliamentary blocs' rejection of the 1960 law that considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system.

The speaker is exerting strong efforts to bridge their differences ahead of a May 15 parliamentary session which will have only one item on its agenda – the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal – if the MPs failed to reach consensus on a vote law.

The proposal is the only draft-law approved by the joint parliamentary committees despite the objection of al-Mustaqbal bloc, Jumblat's National Struggle Front and the March 14 alliance's independent MPs.