Report: Russia Willing to Help Lebanon with Electoral Law

Russia is likely to give Lebanon a helping hand in finding a new parliamentary electoral law format acceptable by all political parties, to save the country from “sliding into a political crisis,” al-Akhbar daily reported on Monday.

“Moscow will possibility make a move to help (Lebanon) find a format for a new electoral law acceptable by all forces, to avoid potentials of a political crisis that could open the door on an exposed security situation in Lebanon,” sources told the daily on condition of anonymity.

Moscow is one of many other countries that call for staging the elections in Lebanon based on a new law, said the daily.

However, the sources stressed that the Russian Embassy in Beirut is weighing “the best vision for an electoral law that suits a diverse country like Lebanon.”

“Theoretically, adopting proportionality based on a single electoral district is the most appropriate, because groups who do not have the opportunity to be represented in the parliament will eventually become radicals,” they noted.

The country has not organized parliamentary elections since 2009 and the legislature has instead twice extended its own mandate.

While al-Mustaqbal Movement has rejected that the electoral law be fully based on proportional representation, arguing that Hizbullah's arms would prevent serious competition in the party's strongholds, Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat has totally rejected proportional representation, even within a hybrid law, warning that it would “marginalize” the minority Druze community.

Hizbullah, Mustaqbal, AMAL Movement, the FPM and the Lebanese Forces are meanwhile discussing several formats of a so-called hybrid law that mixes proportional representation with the winner-takes-all system.