Berri Accuses March 14, 8 of Pressing Adoption of Electoral Law that Favors Their Interests
Speaker Nabih Berri slammed on Tuesday Lebanese officials for seeking to adopt an electoral law that help them achieve the parliamentary majority, pointing out that the cabinet could be formed ahead of a parliamentary session set to be held on May 15.
Berri said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that his hybrid electoral law proposal calls for electing half of the lawmakers in the new parliament based on the winner-takes-all system, with the other half elected under the proportional representation system and 26 districts.
“Lawmakers were supposed to adopt the proposal as a whole but several sides are trying to amend it according to what suits them until it loses its originality,” he stated.
He accused the March 14 alliance and several parties affiliated with the March 8 coalition of seeking to press the adoption of an electoral law that best suits their needs to acquire the parliamentary majority.
“My proposal is set to suit the whole nation not a certain group,” the head of the AMAL movement noted.
Berri had granted political blocs until May 15 to reach an agreement over a new electoral law before calling parliament to session to vote on the Orthodox Gathering proposal that was approved by the joint parliamentary committees.
President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front, the Mustaqbal Movement, and independent March 14 MPs have rejected the law, saying that it deepens sectarian divisions in Lebanon.
The political powers have so far failed to reach an agreement on an alternative law, threatening to postpone the parliamentary elections that are scheduled for June 16.
Concerning the formation of the cabinet, Berri said that it shouldn't be linked to the dispute over the new electoral law, expressing belief that it might be formed ahead of the May 15 session.
Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam was tasked earlier this month with forming the cabinet after he received the support of 124 out of 128 MPs during binding consultations led by Suleiman at Baabda palace.
However, the speaker said that the consensus over the electoral draft law would have a positive impact on the formation of the cabinet as the rival parties would become more lenient regarding the division of portfolios.
Berri pointed out that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who held talks with senior Lebanese officials during his four-day visit last week, briefed him on his country's stance on the importance of holding the polls.
“Moscow is keen to maintain stability in Lebanon,” he said.
On the oil and gas natural reserves offshore Lebanon, Berri expressed surprise over the state's negligence in the matter and its failure to preserve the country's rights, in particular concerning the 854 square kilometers zone that Lebanon and Israel are bickering over.
The zone's suspected energy reserves there could generate billions of dollars.
He accused the presidency and premiership of failing to tackle Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone with the international community to resolve the matter.
Lebanon has been slow to exploit its maritime resources compared with other eastern Mediterranean countries. Israel, Cyprus and Turkey are all much more advanced in drilling for oil and gas.
Beirut argues that a maritime map it submitted to the U.N. is in line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by Israel.
In March 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil and a mean of 34.5 trillion cubic meters of recoverable gas in the Levant Basin in the eastern Mediterranean, which includes the territorial waters of Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Cyprus.
The formation of the Petroleum Authority in November was the first major step in future oil exploration since parliament passed a law in 2011 setting the country's maritime boundary and Exclusive Economic Zone.
The country will witness the first oil exploration process in 2015 and it will take a year to enter the production stage.
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