March 8 MPs Describe Signing Electoral Decree as 'Black Day' in History
March 8 coalition lawmakers considered on Tuesday the signing of the electoral decree a “black day” in the history of legislation, stressing that it will not be approved by the parliament.
“We reject the adoption of the 1960 law... It will not be approved” by the parliament, Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who is loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, told reporters gathered at the parliament.
Several March 8 MPs held a meeting at the parliament to discuss the decree signed by President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Monday that calls on electoral bodies to hold the parliamentary elections on June 9.
“No one has the right to surpass the authorities of the parliament,” Kanaan stressed.
He pointed out that statements confirming that the so-called Orthodox Gathering draft-law will not be adopted “surpass the division of power.”
“Toppling the agreement on adopting the Orthodox proposal is a dangerous precedent,” Kanaan added.
Suleiman has said he would challenge the Orthodox plan before the Constitutional Council if it is approved by parliament, while Miqati stressed that the proposal will not pass, revealing that he has “ways to block it.”
Kanaan noted that officials should respect the constitutional deadlines to hold the polls on time based on a new electoral law that respects equality, which is represented by the Orthodox draft-law.
An Nahar quoted earlier on Monday parliamentary sources as saying that March 19 is the deadline to propose a new electoral draft-law or else other options will be on the table, including the technical postponement of the polls.
The rival parties are yet to agree on a draft-law after the adoption of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal by the joint parliamentary committees, which drew a sharp debate among the opposition's factions and with foes.
The polls are likely to be postponed if the parliament gives the green light to the proposal that divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.
But the draft-law has been rejected by al-Mustaqbal bloc, the centrist National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat, and the March 14 opposition’s Christian independent MPs. It has been also criticized by Suleiman and Miqati.
A delegation headed after Tuesday's meeting in parliament to Ain el-Tineh to brief Speaker Nabih Berri on the stance adopted by the March 8 MPs.
"Signing the electoral decree takes us back to the starting point," Kanaan told reporters after talks with Berri.
The delegation included Kanaan, AMAL's Development and Liberation bloc MP Ali Bazzi and Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance bloc lawmaker Ali Ammar.
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