Berri to Force MPs to 'Sleep in Parliament' over Vote Law Row

Speaker Nabih Berri has vowed to force lawmakers to hold intense talks at the parliament for several days this month until they reach agreement on a new electoral law.

“You will see what I will do on May 15. I will let MPs sleep at the parliament for three or four days until they come up with a law,” pan-Arab daily al-Hayat quoted him as saying.

“Until now, there isn't any law,” Berri said after using the Turkish word Yok, which means nonexistent.

But the speaker will make “a new proposal” if the rival parties failed to reach consensus on the vote law by the date he has set for a general assembly.

He refused to give any details, only saying that he will reveal his plan “at the appropriate time.”

Berri ruled out a prolonged postponement of the elections, saying “as soon as we agree on a new electoral law in parliament, we could set the timeframe of the postponement that the interior minister needs” to be able to prepare for the polls.

The rival parties have so far failed to agree on a new law despite several proposals made by different blocs and leaders.

Only the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal has been approved by the joint parliamentary committees despite the rejection of al-Mustaqbal bloc, the National Struggle Front and the March 14 independent lawmakers.

Officials who visited Berri quoted him as saying that the Lebanese Forces and the Phalange party, who were among the proposal's staunch supporters along with their rivals in the Free Patriotic Movement and the Marada movement, are no longer enthusiastic about it.

The plan considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system. But Berri has proposed a hybrid plan that combines the winner-takes-all system and proportionality to appease all sides.