Report: Jumblat 'Adapting' to Vote Law Out of 'Keenness for Consensus'

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat was nonchalant about the government’s approval of a new electoral law saying he agreed on it out of “keenness for consensus”, Ad Diyar daily reported on Thursday.

“It is a settlement of the status quo. We have agreed on it out of keenness for consensus despite our remarks,” Jumblat told the daily.

“Proportionality and sectarianism do not fit and do not meet, but what can we do? They have invented this law format and introduced us into a whirlpool related to the preference vote and other details that have puzzled the law makers before anyone else,” added the MP.

However, the MP continued saying that since “the law has become a reality, we must prepare for the elections that may produce a change in the political class.”

On Wednesday, Lebanon's government announced a new election law after a cabinet session ending months of tense discussions and paving the way for the first parliamentary elections in nine years.

Under the agreement, the current parliament's term will be extended once again, but this time for just 11 months to prepare for elections under the new rules in May 2018.

Parliament is scheduled to vote on the law on Friday.

The new law replaces the existing plurality voting system with proportional representation and reduces the number of electoral districts.