Geagea Lashes Out at Attempts to Lure Opposition to Attend Dialogue
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Thursday that the March 14-led opposition rejects to pay the price for any government change by compromising on the electoral law that will be adopted in the upcoming parliamentary elections.
He criticized in comments published in An Nahar newspaper attempts to lure the opposition to attend the national dialogue session set to be held on January 7.
President Michel Suleiman postponed the last session that was set to be held in November after the March 14 alliance decided to boycott it.
Geagea accused “some” parties of trying to make a compromise between the formation of a new cabinet and the adoption of a new electoral law for the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections.
“The all-party talks will not be successful,” the LF leader said.
Lebanon plunged in a political crisis last month when the opposition announced its decision not to sit at the dialogue table with Hizbullah, and boycotted all parliamentary activity after it blamed Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government on the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch chief Wissam al-Hasan on October 19.
Discussions among the rival March 14 and March 8 coalitions over the new electoral law reached a standstill as each alliance held on to its proposition.
The cabinet pushed in August for a law based on proportional representation and dividing Lebanon into 13 electoral districts. Meanwhile, March 14 coalition's proposal suggested dividing Lebanon into 50 electoral districts and adopting popular majority, explaining that this would give a just representation for Lebanese Christians.
While a plan suggested by Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc allows every sect to elect its own MPs under a proportional representation system with Lebanon as a single district.
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://naharnet.com/stories/en/63508 |