Charbel Hints to Extension of Parliament's Mandate Pending Electoral Law Deal
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel hinted that the current parliament's term would be extended for six months if it was not able to agree on a new electoral law or amend the 1960 law, An Nahar daily reported Saturday.
In remarks to An Nahar's correspondent during his visit to Rome, Charbel said he would exert all efforts to amend the current law but did not rule out a six-month extension of the legislature's term during which the assembly would adopt a new draft-law or amend the 1960 law's articles on the deadline for the announcement of candidacies or the resignation from public sector posts.
Top civil servants or heads of municipalities are no longer able to announce their candidacies if the elections were to take place in the spring of 2013, Charbel reportedly said.
A decree issued in 2008 sets conditions for the announcement of candidacies by public employees. Some should resign six months before the end of the parliament's term while other top civil servants should submit their resignations two years prior to the elections.
The government adopted in August an electoral draft-law based on proportional representation that divided Lebanon into 13 districts but it faced the obstruction of several parliamentary blocs when it reached the legislature for approval.
Charbel, who is in Rome to attend the official appointment of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi as cardinal, made several suggestions including allowing the country's Christians and Muslims to elect 64 MPs each.
Another proposal lies in adopting a law that would grant voters the ability to choose 10 candidates in a two-stage electoral process that would first allow electorates to select members of their districts and then add the names of candidates from other districts.
Such a law would guarantee the participation of all Lebanese in choosing lawmakers from all over Lebanon, Charbel said.
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