March 8 Calls on Berri to Hold Parliamentary Session for Adoption of Orthodox Proposal
Lawmakers representing the March 8 alliance called on Wednesday on Speaker Nabih Berri to hold a parliamentary session for the approval of the so-called Orthodox Gathering draft-law.
“The March 8 parliamentary blocs insist on holding the elections on time based on a law other than the 1960 law,” Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan told reporters at the parliament in Beirut's Nijmeh Square.
Kanaan, who is loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, said that the March 8 coalition is holding on the Orthodox Gathering proposal.
“We call on Berri to hold a parliamentary session for the adoption of Orthodox proposal... as an attempt to cancel the 1960 law,” the lawmaker said.
A consensus over an electoral law has yet to be reached among the political foes.
The Orthodox proposal that considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, was opposed by President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, al-Mustaqbal bloc, the PSP, and the independent Christian MPs of the March 14 opposition, saying it harms the social fabric and increases sectarian tension.
The meeting included representatives of Berri's Development and Liberation, Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance, FPM's Change and Reform, Tashnag party and Marada Movement parliamentary blocs.
“Our stance is clear, we conciser that there's a historical chance for Lebanon to adopt a new electoral law that represents all the (Lebanese segments) equally,” Kanaan said.
The MP pointed out that the coalition is keen to “preserve the country and maintain the state and its stability by filling the vacuum that shouldn't occur.”
Suleiman and Miqati have signed a decree that sets the elections on June 9 based on the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 polls over the lack of agreement between the bickering parliamentary blocs.
Their call have drawn the ire of the March 8 majority coalition, which has totally rejected the law.
Berri kicked of on Tuesday consultations with March 8 and 14 foes on the electoral draft-law.
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