Hizbullah Tried to Convince Jumblat of Revised Proportionality Law with Appealing Electorates
Hizbullah has made overtures towards Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat in a bid to convince him of an electoral law based on proportional representation and a new, appealing distribution of electorates, but the Druze leader held on to his rejection of an electoral law based on proportional representation, which he believes is aimed at eliminating a major political camp, a National Struggle Front source said.
The PSP “was a pioneer in advocating proportional representation as a step towards reform, but it does not believe that raising it at the moment is aimed at improving the Lebanese electoral system, but rather at eliminating a rival Lebanese camp that has its weight in the Lebanese equation, in a manner that would increase threats to stability and national unity in the country,” the source quoted Jumblat as saying, in remarks published Sunday by the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.
“The common factor between the proposed electoral laws is that both of them are aimed at securing a parliamentary majority that is not dependent on the size of Jumblat's bloc, as those behind a proportional law based on 13-15 electorates expect that Hizbullah, the Free Patriotic Movement, AMAL Movement and their allies would win more than 70 seats – half of parliament plus at least six seats – not counting Jumblat's bloc, while those behind the proposal that is based on 50 small electorates and a winner-takes-all system expect the March 14 forces to win more than 75 seats, while also not counting Jumblat's bloc,” the source added.
The source wondered how would Lebanon benefit from stripping Jumblat of his centrist position between the two rival camps, “which has led to preserving the minimum of stability in the country and preventing any camp from triumphing over the other.”
“Both camps have tried to convince Jumblat of their viewpoints in order to win the support of his bloc during any vote on a new electoral law,” the source revealed.
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