Berri urges dialogue on new and non-sectarian electoral law
Parliament Speaker and Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri on Tuesday called on all forces that competed in the parliamentary elections to "respect the choices of the people" who voted.
“Some claim a link to the principles of independence and sovereignty, while in their performance, behavior and political rhetoric are deeply immersed in slavery and subordination to the interests of foreign forces,” Berri decried.
Calling on all parties to “put aside the tense and provocative political and electoral rhetoric,” Berri said all “hot heads” must cool down and everyone must become convinced that it is the destiny of the Lebanese to “live together as the sons of the same country.”
“No one and no sect wants to eliminate another sect,” he stressed.
He accordingly called on all political forces and parliamentary blocs to engage in “serious dialogue, in partnership with all honest and serious civil society forces, to bury this (electoral) law that harms partnership and represents a magic spell for deepening the distribution of quotas and sectarianism.”
“It’s about time for a non-sectarian law” and for “lowering voting age to 18 years, introducing a women’s quota and establishing a senate in which sects would be fairly represented,” the Speaker added.
Source: Naharnet
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