Berri Hits Back at Geagea: Previous Electoral Laws were a Conspiracy
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday snapped back at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea over a tweet related to the electoral law.
“All the previous electoral laws can be considered a conspiracy against Lebanon’s future, except for the current proposal,” Berri said in a statement released by his press office.
“One should read with the spirit of triumphing for Lebanon and not against the other camp,” he added.
Geagea earlier tweeted that had it not been for the presence of the LF’s bloc in parliament, “the electoral law conspiracy would have been passed yesterday.”
The draft law submitted by Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc turns Lebanon into a single electoral district and is based on full proportional representation without so-called preferential votes.
08 October 2020, 18:26
11
History books will refer to Berri as the butcher of Tehran. When in 2010 the Green Revolution was fighting for freedom and democracy, when they were facing the basij and risking their lives everyday having tens of thousands of their ranks killed and imprisoned, when they were so close from their goal to have the same freedom Lebanese Shia had; instead of Berri showing support, he sided with the criminal Iranian regimes and Basij that brutally suppressed their hopes and dreams. He is partner in crime in complicity with the Lebanese Basij Hizbollah.
08 October 2020, 19:57
02
"All the previous electoral laws can be considered a conspiracy against Lebanon’s future"
Has Berri's press office not noticed that Nabih Berri has been at the head of the Parliament since 1992 and was instrumental in the passing of every pervious electoral law, not to mention all the unconstitutional laws like all the "for one time only" ones.
08 October 2020, 21:46
30
Naharnet should decide if it's for or against sectarianism (Article 24 which reserves half of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies to Christians, who are about 30% of the population--but how does anybody know something like that).
"If Geagea were accused of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict him?"
08 October 2020, 23:48
10
Aham..Lebanon is strongly influenced financially and politically by its diaspora which is over 70% Christian, who a lot contributed to progress and advancement of this country.
09 October 2020, 04:41
02
lebanonlibanfirst, to be factual, those 70% christian in the diaspora are not all "real lebanese". Lebanon naturalized christian Syrians, christian Palestinians, christian Armenians, christian syriacs/assyrians/iraqis in large numbers starting from the independance when people where within the borders of lebanon for work, migration etc but then kept doing this repeatedly throughout the years. Non-Lebanese Muslims and Druze were not naturalized as commonly as non-Lebanese christians were. Also, its not like the majority of the diaspora (regardless of religon) contribute financially to the country. I doubt anyone has contribued as much financially to Lebanon as the Muslim Arab gulf countries so by the same logic, Muslims (sunnis to be precise) should get a larger share then if financial contribution is the issue which im not sayibg it is. Like it or not, the shia are the largest sect in lebanon today.
09 October 2020, 04:41
12
I disagree with amal and hizb on many things and i am not shia but had it been the other way around, i.e the maronites being the largest sect in lebanon then they too would have demanded more political power or grabbed it otherwise if they could. Another thing is how orthodox christians don't have a share in the political system and have to be represented by a sect they don't belong to. At the end of the day though, berri, hariri, geagea, gemayel and jumblat are our standard names while people have voted them in/approved of them time and time again so i dont see how a power share change with regards to sects would make lebanon a better place for its citizens.
09 October 2020, 04:43
01
chrisrushlau, what kind of change is it that you would consider to be just?
09 October 2020, 18:05
00
Samir, what is a “real” Lebanese to you? In the civic conception every Lebanese descendant who proves he had forefathers in Lebanon, even during the Ottoman Empire, should plead for Lebanese citizenship and the right to vote. Lebanon is more than a country, it’s an ideal and a message, like Pope John Paul II said! Yes, the Greek Orthodox surely deserve to be well represented. If not, the solution will be a Confederation, like Switzerland. Lebanon is a community of nations - not one big socialist state.
What should be reformed in the first place is the law that concedes only religious parties the authority to act on marriage, divorce issues; the law should also be reformed to concede the woman the right to plead for the Lebanese citizenship for her children, independent of confession. The diaspora remittances constitute an important source of revenue for the village communities.
09 October 2020, 18:16
00
Proportionally, the Gulf Sunnis used to invest much more before the War, when other hubs like Dubai and Abu Dhabi were no competitors. Even so, Lebanese of all confessions have always contributed to the advancement of the Gulf states ever since their independence. The Gulf Sunnis used to invest much more before the War, when other hubs like Dubai and Abu Dhabi were no competitors. Even so, the Lebanese have always contributed to the advancement of the Gulf states ever since their independence, offering them educational, medical, banking and entertainment services, and occupying chief posts in business enterprises.
09 October 2020, 10:24
11
It's about time bl..dy time that the population of the Republic of Lebanon woke up and realised that the only sensible way forward is the way it works all over the world using the simple democratic equation of "one man/woman one vote".
