Fatfat Meets Berri, Asks Him to Reconsider Hariri's Electoral Initiative

Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Ahmed Fatfat revealed on Thursday that he asked Speaker Nabih Berri to reconsider former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's electoral initiative that calls for electing a senate along with holding the parliamentary elections, and later introducing the reforms mentioned in the Taef Accord.

"We have asked Berri to revisit Hariri's suggestion and he showed high responsiveness to our request,” Fatfat said after meeting with the speaker in Ain al-Tineh.

Fatfat remarked: “I believe he will have an initiative in this respect and it will be a solution that gets us out of the current deadlock.”

Hariri called in January for electing a senate representing the various Lebanese sects according to the Orthodox Gathering's proposal and a parliament based on small districts.

In an initiative he launched during an interview on LBCI television, he said that a “real solution” for the concerns of Christians would be “holding elections on time under an electoral law based on small electoral districts -- which would ensure proper representation for all regions, groups and religious communities -- and creating a senate that represents all religions and sects in Lebanon as stipulated by the Taef Accord.

Hariri's initiative also calls for “addressing the chronic complaints of all Lebanese regions and groups concerning developmental and administrative obstacles by immediately implementing Taef Accord's stipulations relating to expanded administrative decentralization.

The al-Mustaqbal MP explained: “When electoral laws are debated, each party is evaluating its gains and losses, but when an all-embracing proposal is under consideration, one that includes electing a parliament, a senate, introducing constitutional amendments, decentralization in the administration and applying the Taef Accord, such calculations will become irrelevant.”

“However, we heard that Christian factions are looking into a hybrid suggestion and we do not mind this if it is true,” Fatfat pointed out.

Berri has said he would call for a parliamentary session on May 15 to vote on the Orthodox proposal for being the only plan approved by the joint committees.

The draft, which divides Lebanon into one electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, was rejected by President Michel Suleiman, caretaker PM Najib Miqati, al-Mustaqbal bloc, the National Struggle Front and the March 14 Christian independent MPs.

They said it deepens sectarian divisions in the country.

The political powers have so far failed to reach an agreement on an alternative law, threatening to postpone the parliamentary elections that are scheduled for June 16.