Berri: Priority Must be Given to Devising Electoral Law
Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated on Wednesday the necessity to speed up drafting a new electoral law based on proportional representation.
“We have all experienced the mishaps of the 1960 election law. We hope the new cabinet completes drafting a policy statement before the end of the year. The parliament is ready to hold vote of confidence for the cabinet as soon as the draft is presented,” said Berri during his weekly meeting with lawmakers.
The cabinet held its first meeting on Wednesday and formed a 7-minister committee tasked with drafting a new election law to hold the upcoming parliamentary election on May 2017.
The political parties are bickering over amending the current election law, the 1960 law, which divides seats among the different religious sects.
Hizbullah has repeatedly called for an electoral law based on proportional representation but other political parties, especially al-Mustaqbal Movement, have rejected the proposal and argued that the party's controversial arsenal of arms would prevent serious competition in regions where the Iran-backed party is influential.
Mustaqbal, the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party have meanwhile proposed a hybrid electoral law that mixes the proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems. Speaker Nabih Berri has also proposed a hybrid law.
The country has not voted for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending its own mandate.
The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral law and the next elections are scheduled for May 2017.
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