Jumblat Contacts Hariri to 'Coordinate Stances' in Parliament on Electoral Law

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has telephoned former prime minister Saad Hariri to discuss the draft electoral law adopted by the government.

Jumblat and Hariri discussed “the draft electoral law adopted by the government and the coordination of stances in parliament,” the Akhbar al-Yawm news agency reported on Friday.

Jumblat slammed on Wednesday the government’s adoption of a new electoral law in the absence of a single sovereign state that enjoys the decision of war and peace.

In remarks to several newspapers, Jumblat said: “The electoral law cannot be discussed calmly in a tense sectarian atmosphere and in the absence of a single authority and a single state.”

“This and any other law should come through a single authority that defends, liberates and legislates,” he said. “This issue should have been discussed under a state that enjoys sovereignty on all its territories and the decision of war and peace.”

“Electoral laws that seek to impose some political parties on others can’t provide stability,” Jumblat told the newspapers in reference to the Hizbullah-led March 8 coalition that forms the majority of Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet.

The new electoral draft-law is based on proportional representation and divides Lebanon to 13 districts in the 2013 parliamentary elections although it is not likely to be approved once referred to the parliament.

Asked how his National Struggle Front bloc would react once the bill reaches the legislature, the Druze leader said: “We will hear the other suggestions and support the right dialogue.”

Some sects will feel that the draft-law is not doing them justice and this “will create hatred,” he told the dailies.

Jumblat also rejected the way districts were divided after putting al-Shouf and Aley in one district, saying: “I reject it out of the logic of balance and the respect of the other’s will because putting Aley and al-Shouf together would make the other confessions feel the unfairness.”

“As a representative of part of the Druze (sect) I don’t want to cause the remaining Lebanese in the Mountains to feel that way,” he added.

On Tuesday, Hariri also slammed the proposed law, stressing that it will not be approved in parliament.

He said in a statement: “The least that can be said of the law is that it is directed against more than half of the Lebanese people and we reject it.”

He revealed that he had contacted President Michel Suleiman to inform him of his opposition. “I hold the president and prime minister responsible for the government’s decision and its repercussions,” continued the former premier.

He added the new electoral law was “tailored to Hizbullah and its allies’ interests, whether through the adoption of proportional representation or the division of the electoral districts.”