Kanaan to Berri: Maronite Leaders’ Decision Should be Foundation for Dialogue
Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan reportedly told Speaker Nabih Berri that the Maronite leaders’ decision to support the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal on the electoral draft law should be a foundation for a serious dialogue among Lebanese politicians.
An Nahar daily quoted Kanaan as telling Berri during a meeting held on Monday that the Christians refuse the status quo imposed on them since the adoption of the Taef Accord in 1989.
On Friday, Maronite leaders from both the bickering March 8 and 14 camps backed the Gathering’s proposal for each sect to choose its own representative during the 2013 parliamentary elections.
At a meeting held in Bkirki, Phalange party chief Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, and the head of the Marada movement, Suleiman Franjieh, were unanimous in endorsing the proposal.
They stressed, however, the need to hold dialogue with the rest of the Lebanese factions on the issue.
Their announcement came as the cabinet is still debating a new electoral law based on proportional representation proposed by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.
According to An Nahar, Berri told Kanaan that he “respects” the proposal and called for a comprehensive solution to the electoral law.
The two officials also discussed the draft state budget, the daily said, adding that Kenaan told the speaker that the cabinet should speed up its approval so that parliament could ratify it.
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