Mashnouq: Ministry Needs to Prepare for Parliamentary Polls if New Law is Agreed
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on Wednesday that the ministry has the preparations ready to hold the upcoming parliamentary elections on time shall the 1960 majoritarian law be adopted.
“The Ministry is ready today to hold the parliamentary polls under the 1960 electoral law, but it needs some time for preparations shall another law be agreed,” said Mashnouq.
The political parties are bickering over amending the current 1960 election law which divides seats among the different religious sects.
Hizbullah has repeatedly called for an electoral law based on proportional representation but other political parties, especially al-Mustaqbal Movement, have rejected the proposal and argued that the party's controversial arsenal of arms would prevent serious competition in regions where the Iran-backed party is influential.
Mustaqbal, the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party have meanwhile proposed a hybrid electoral law that mixes the proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems. Speaker Nabih Berri has also proposed a hybrid law.
The country has not voted for a parliament since 2009, with the legislature instead twice extending its own mandate.
The 2009 polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral law and the next elections are scheduled for May 2017.
Source: Naharnet
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