Report: Al-Mustaqbal to Intensify Dialogue with Berri after Electoral-Law Controversy
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A delegation from the March 14 opposition's al-Mustaqbal movement is seeking to meet with Speaker Nabih Berri to discuss with him its rejection of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal on the parliamentary elections, sources said Sunday.
The al-Mustaqbal sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the delegation will ask for a meeting with Berri to discuss with him the proposal and alternatives to it in an attempt to revive dialogue between the two sides after talks were held around two months ago between al-Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora and the speaker.
The delegation's visit to Ain el-Tineh would come after the Progressive Socialist Party of MP Walid Jumblat encouraged al-Mustaqbal to intensify its contacts with Berri, who is the head of the Amal movement that is part of the Hizbullah-led March 8 majority alliance.
“There is a need for such dialogue to discuss the post-elections stage in addition to the electoral draft-law,” informed sources told al-Hayat.
March 14 opposition alliance's Christian politicians, al-Mustaqbal movement, and Jumblat’s PSP have criticized the Orthodox Proposal for allegedly deepening sectarian divisions.
It calls for a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own lawmakers under a system of proportional representation.
In remarks published Sunday, al-Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat “totally rejected” the proposal, warning it would receive the veto of several blocs if certain parties continued to back it.
The Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun is among the staunch supporters of the proposal.
Fatfat visited Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki on Saturday reiterating that the Orthodox proposal “harms the country.”
Al-Rahi chaired on Friday a meeting that was attended by FPM chief Michel Aoun, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel and Marada chief Suleiman Franjieh.
The conferees called for agreeing on an electoral draft-law that secures fair and just representation for all Lebanese communities.
But the statement issued following the meeting came only days after representatives from the three major Christian parties and the Lebanese Forces agreed to endorse the Orthodox Gathering proposal.
13 January 2013, 14:02
04
So he cried because over a thousand lebanese were butchered by Israel. May be in your world, that make him less of a man. But that is you. Where is the "love" you preach. Or that is always when it fits your interest. I wonder how long the hizb will support such a law. Then again, what will prevent them from storming al ashrafieh if they do not get what they want. Or do you people think ashrafieh is more holy than "west" beirut.
13 January 2013, 14:10
03
Ouwete - this sense of entitlement has to end. In a democracy no-one vote should be worth more than another. The lie about chritian under-representation is just a lie. If any, muslims (and especially shia) are the ones that are under-represented. Those supporting m8 are playing the m14 christian supporters for fools. Do you believe the shia community (the largest in lebanon) will accept such a law in the long term? Noone will. Look at you, you demand that your vote be counted more than a shia or a sunni. Time to put this behind us and move to a citizenship-based system.
13 January 2013, 19:42
00
Because we are sects living in a nation and we refuse to treat each others as human beings but as members of other sects. That is the election plan you support. Now the hizb could care less as they have made it clear that no election results will affect their militia (that is stronger than the Lebanese force).
13 January 2013, 20:27
11
Mustakbal rejects everything. the government. The dialogue. the electoral law...
They became experts of rejection, and want to ruin the country so that they can come as saviors to pick up the pieces once their buddies the FSA wins in syria.
