Gemayel Says Extending Parliament Term 'Inevitable': If No Accord on Vote Law Reached, We'll Go with What's Available
Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel announced on Thursday that extending the parliament's term has become “inevitable,” hinting that there is a possibility to give up the support for the Orthodox Gathering's draft electoral law.
“We will not call for a revolution on the constitutional institutions and we will go with any law adopted at the parliament,” Gemayel stated in an interview on LBCI television, revealing that he is most concerned about the possibility of not holding the elections.
“We urge Speaker Nabih Berri to call for a parliamentary session to vote on an electoral draft law,” he stressed. “Not holding the elections is the most dangerous thing that can happen.”
He added: “We will try our best to reach a consensual and constitutional electoral law. Or else, we will accept what is available.”
Gemayel denied talks about an American intervention to block a vote in favor of the Orthodox proposal at the parliament.
He elaborated: "I haven't met with American Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly in a long time and in the talks I held in the U.S. I did not discuss the Orthodox Gathering's draft law.”
The former president announced that extending the parliament's term has become inevitable: “The Ministry of Interior needs time for preparation and for the logistics.”
"The elections might be postponed to the spring of 2014.”
Berri has said he would call for a parliamentary session on May 15 to vote on the Orthodox proposal for being the only plan approved by the joint committees.
The draft, which divides Lebanon into one electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, was rejected by President Michel Suleiman, caretaker PM Najib Miqati, al-Mustaqbal bloc, the National Struggle Front and the March 14 Christian independent MPs.
They said it deepens sectarian divisions in the country.
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.
On the cabinet's formation process, Gemayel said: “A political government is important in this phase as it constitutes a cover for the army in its operations on the border.”
"A technocrat cabinet cannot deal with this,” he remarked.
Commenting on the turmoil of the neighboring country, Gemayel said Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war is “unacceptable.”
“And another party's involvement is not the answer,” he pointed out.
The Phalange leader expressed that it is for the best of the Syrian people “to get rid of the current regime as soon as possible.”
“We were the first to applaud the revolution,” he noted. “We look forward to the cooperation between both countries and to a democratic system and to the freedom that we aspire to have.”
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah acknowledged on Tuesday his party's participation in the neighboring country's war, explaining that this stems from its belief in helping the Lebanese in al-Qusayr “who are vulnerable to attacks by gunmen.”
He also announced that Hizbullah fighters are defending holy places in the area: “Armed groups are only hundreds of meters away from the Sayyeda Zainab shrine and Takfirist groups launched clear threats on the Internet that they will destroy the shrine should they enter the area."
Meanwhile, several salafist Sunni figures in Lebanon and in response to Hizbullah's activities in Syria, called on their supporters last week to fight alongside the opposition's rebels in al-Qusayr.
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