Bkirki Committee to Meet amid Divisions among Christians on Electoral Law
A committee of representatives of four major Christian parties is expected to meet in the coming days to announce its stance from a new electoral draft-law approved by the government amid clear differences in the viewpoints of its members, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.
Bkirki sources refused to comment on the draft but stressed that it supports a law that represents all Lebanese sects in the best way and guarantees equality between all confessions and Lebanese parties.
The committee, which was formed by the Maronite patriarchate based in Bkirki, will study it in the next 24 hours, An Nahar said.
MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who is a member of Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc that is part of the March 8 majority that makes up the cabinet, told the daily that the draft-law approved by the government is very close to Bkirki’s own view.
The committee could discuss and reach agreement on the issues that need amendments, he said.
Kanaan’s comment came a day after Free Patriotic Movement leader Aoun said “the adoption of the electoral law based on proportionality and 13 districts was the request of all those who met in Bkirki.”
But a Lebanese Forces official said that the draft “has nothing to do with the draft-laws being discussed in Bkirki.”
The first proposal made by Christian parties at the seat of the Maronite church was based on dividing Lebanon to small districts that do not surpass 3 seats each and the other called for proportionality based on 15 districts, the official told An Nahar and al-Liwaa newspapers.
MP Butros Harb, who along with the LF is part of the March 14 opposition, clearly announced his rejection of the draft-law saying it “indirectly leads to consolidating sectarian divisions in Lebanon.”
“It would also lead to the hegemony of sectarian parties on political life,” he said.
“The law that guarantees the right representation should be based on small districts of maximum 3 MPs each based on a majority representation system,” the lawmaker added.
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