Kanaan: No One Can Push Us to Endorse 1960 Law or Extension
Change and Reform bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan stressed Sunday that “no one” will be able to push the Free Patriotic Movement to accept parliamentary polls under the controversial 1960 electoral law or a new extension of the parliament's term, hours after Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat called for elections under an “amended” version of the 1960 law.
“No one will be able to push us through a political maneuver or escalatory stances to accept the 1960 law or extension,” Kanaan said in an interview on al-Jadeed TV.
Asked about President Michel Aoun's recent remarks about parliamentary vacuum, Kanaan said: “The simple explanation of vacuum is failure to organize parliamentary polls but the deeper explanation is that we've been in a vacuum for decades due to the fact that authorities were not formed according to the constitution and the National Pact.”
“To us, extension is equivalent to vacuum, because it would extend the state of decay and non-democracy. What the president is saying is clear: we won't accept outright extension or a veiled extension resulting from electoral laws that do not ensure equal power-sharing and partnership between Christians and Muslims,” the MP explained.
“We do not want to provoke or target anyone, including Jumblat, and we want partnership with everyone according to sound foundations,” Kanaan added, noting that “Christian representation is flawed in nearly all districts, including Chouf and Aley.”
Earlier in the day, Jumblat had openly called for holding the parliamentary polls under a “revised” version of the controversial 1960 electoral law, rejecting all calls for proportional representation.
“We can find an amended format of the 1960 law, or else let us immediately seek the implementation of the Taef Accord, which we can implement fully or gradually while taking into consideration the country's circumstances,” the PSP leader urged.
“Taef Accord stipulated new electoral districts and administrative governorates and the creation of a senate in which all sects and confessions would be represented after the abolition of political sectarianism in the parliament's structure,” Jumblat reminded.
The country has not organized parliamentary elections since 2009 and the legislature has instead twice extended its own mandate.
The last polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral law and the next vote is scheduled for May.
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