Report: Al-Mustaqbal to Intensify Dialogue with Berri after Electoral-Law Controversy
A delegation from the March 14 opposition's al-Mustaqbal movement is seeking to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss with him its rejection of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal on the parliamentary elections, sources said Sunday.
The al-Mustaqbal sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the delegation will ask for a meeting with Berri to discuss with him the proposal and alternatives to it in an attempt to revive dialogue between the two sides after talks were held around two months ago between al-Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora and the speaker.
The delegation's visit to Ain el-Tineh would come after the Progressive Socialist Party of MP Walid Jumblat encouraged al-Mustaqbal to intensify its contacts with Berri, who is the head of the Amal movement that is part of the Hizbullah-led March 8 majority alliance.
“There is a need for such dialogue to discuss the post-elections stage in addition to the electoral draft-law,” informed sources told al-Hayat.
March 14 opposition alliance's Christian politicians, al-Mustaqbal movement, and Jumblat’s PSP have criticized the Orthodox Proposal for allegedly deepening sectarian divisions.
It calls for a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own lawmakers under a system of proportional representation.
In remarks published Sunday, al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat “totally rejected” the proposal, warning it would receive the veto of several blocs if certain parties continued to back it.
The Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun is among the staunch supporters of the proposal.
Fatfat visited Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki on Saturday reiterating that the Orthodox proposal “harms the country.”
Al-Rahi chaired on Friday a meeting that was attended by FPM chief Michel Aoun, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel and Marada chief Suleiman Franjieh.
The conferees called for agreeing on an electoral draft-law that secures fair and just representation for all Lebanese communities.
But the statement issued following the meeting came only days after representatives from the three major Christian parties and the Lebanese Forces agreed to endorse the Orthodox Gathering proposal.
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