March 14 Independent Christians Discuss with Berri 1 District-Hybrid Vote Law
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
A delegation of March 14 independent Christian lawmakers and officials discussed with Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday a proposal to divide Lebanon into a single district based on a hybrid system, said MP Butros Harb.
The delegation led by Harb visited Berri in Ain el-Tineh to discuss with him some new ideas following the controversial adoption of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal by the joint parliamentary committees last week.
“We discussed some new ideas and agreed on continuing discussions with him” on an electoral draft-law, Harb told reporters after what he said was a “very useful” meeting.
“We decided to discuss in details the results of the ideas that we shared, including the adoption of a single district and a hybrid draft-law that does not put the elections in danger,” he said.
The hybrid system combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation.
The delegation vowed to continue discussions with the rest of officials in hopes to reach an agreement that would lead to “electoral stability,” Harb said.
The Orthodox proposal, which divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own lawmakers under a proportional representation system, was rejected by the independents MPs along with the opposition al-Mustaqbal bloc and the centrist National Struggle Front at the last meeting of the joint committees.
But Christian parties and the members of the March 8 majority alliance went ahead with adopting it.
Berri said in remarks published on Monday that he would not call for a parliamentary session before bickering parties reach consensus on an electoral draft-law.
Among Berri's visitors Monday was Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kenaan, who said following the talks that “those who want the elections to take place should propose an acceptable draft-law.”
“We insist that everyone works seriously to reach consensus on an electoral draft-law,” said Kenaan, whose bloc, is a staunch supporter of the Orthodox proposal.
25 February 2013, 13:49
68
March 14 independant Christians struggling to remain relevant... Their days of filling up the gap for Hariri and Joumblatt will be over soon.
25 February 2013, 20:31
43
There has always been moderate Christian leaders in Lebanon who reached across the sectarian divide. The Christians were leaders in the Arab Awakening in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. There has always been a struggle between the moderaates and sectarian tendencies in the Christian community. This is paralled among muslims. Unfortunatelly for the region, it seems that the radicals are gaining the upper hand which threaten the region with chaos.
25 February 2013, 13:53
57
When it is the Orthodox Gathering system, which would "gather" all Shia and Sunnis as well it is called illegal.
When the gathering system is combined in a hybrid system it is now,all of a sudden perfectly legal.
25 February 2013, 14:27
77
Botros Harb is a fine neutral politician. We need more of them, we need technocrats to govern Lebanon too.
25 February 2013, 16:46
12
Does anyone else beliee that the orthodox law falls into controversy with the lebanese constitution in here?
25 February 2013, 17:10
00
The magnificent GMA already returned the right to the Christians when he appointed a good Christian boy Abbas Ibrahim to the traditionally Christian post of director-general of the General Security Department just like he promised, right?
25 February 2013, 23:58
21
They could not beat him so they tried to kill him. When that failed, they resorted to a smear campaign. That is M8's version of democracy! This man, Butros Harb, has come out of nowhere to become a true Lebanese hero! HULK SMASH!
