Suleiman Says Orthodox Proposal Unconstitutional, Encourages Discussion on Proportional Representation
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
President Michel Suleiman stated on Tuesday his rejection of adopting the Orthodox Gathering's proposed law in the upcoming parliamentary elections, describing it as “unconstitutional”.
"We encourage the electoral subcommittee to discuss the proportional representation law,” Suleiman said in an interview with the Progressive Socialist Party-affiliated newspaper al-Anbaa, adding that this so-called Butros draft law can be modified and improved to respond to the concerns of all parties in Lebanon.
The Butros Committee draft law, which was headed by former Foreign Minister Fouad Butros in 2005, has combined in its proposal the proportional representation and winner-takes-all systems.
"Despite its unconstitutionality, the Orthodox Gathering's law does have a positive side which is considering Lebanon as one single electoral district,” Suleiman noted.
“We expect Speaker Nabih Berri to form a constitutional committee to look into the legality of the proposed electoral laws,” he added.
President Suleiman urged the members of the electoral subcommittee to exert all the needed efforts to come with a constitutional law, adding that the “best solution might be adopting the proposal suggested by the government and modify it to include both proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems”.
The government had approved in August 2012 an electoral bill based on proportional representation and 13 districts, but it was met with the opposition's rejection, which deemed it as being tailored to the March 8 majority alliance's interests.
The electoral subcommittee held on Tuesday the first round of a series of talks to discuss the electoral law. This came after after the opposition agreed to Speaker Nabih Berri's proposal of residing in a hotel near the parliament building in downtown Beirut, as a safety precaution.
On Sunday, The Christian four-party committee on the electoral law agreed to endorse the electoral system proposed by the so-called Orthodox Gathering, under which each sect would elect its own lawmakers.
Commenting on the issues of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Suleiman said: “We do not turn down any refugee and this stems from our obligations towards the international community and the Human Rights Charter”.
“The Prime Minister and the concerned ministries will coordinate their efforts with Arab countries and the United Nations to get all the needed aid and secure food and shelter to the Syrian refugees,” the president announced, describing this situation as a humanitarian one.
"We pledge to help Syrian refugees regardless of their political orientation,” he remarked.
The Lebanese cabinet had voted on Thursday to adopt a three-part plan to tackle the influx of refugees from war-torn Syria. The plan will involve registration -- which means the counting of refugees -- medical and food aid, and the security and social consequences.
According to the latest report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 170,637 Syrian refugees have been registered in Lebanon while reports say that around 50,000 are still not registered.
08 January 2013, 23:07
06
Well, if it's unconstitutional then it's a waste of time to talk about it. Anyway, The best thing is that each Lebanese represents himself... there's no need to elect someone else. We should have 4 million MPs and of course each of us get paid $19.000 / month for life.
08 January 2013, 23:16
05
sure as we have seen the efficiency of MPs: earning scandalous salaries just to do nothing and laugh at the lebanese citizens...
08 January 2013, 23:56
25
Wasn't his appointment as president unconstitutional? or am I wrong about that?
09 January 2013, 10:09
21
the filthy zionist scum wants puppet president in lebanon, so when this one isn't, he will say all kind of lies against him
09 January 2013, 10:11
31
the filthy zionist scum wants to find some argument again aoun and others in march 8 patriotic coalition.
however, it's up to the court to have a final say if something is not according to constitution. politicians can have opinions and declare them.
except for siniora and lady gaga. they should shut up
09 January 2013, 01:44
25
President Suleiman is the only one that made sense among all of these clowns. I find the whole sectarian mentality sickening. I am a Sunni Muslim (it killed me to write this) who is married to a Spanish Catholic. I wanted to register my two newly born twin boys. On the form, it ask to specify a sect. I call the embassy and ask "can I keep it blank?" The answer is "no, it will not be processed." Can I put one as Muslim and other as Christian. The answer was "No. Muslim and Christian are not acceptable choices. You have to put in the sect and both have to be the same sect as the father." So according to our crazy Lebanese laws, my 1.5 years old are Sunni Muslims!!! Does this really make sense? For now, my children have to be satisfied with being Canadian and Spanish citizens. When Lebanese decide to be just "human beings" and not "sectarian beings," I will register them.
09 January 2013, 02:56
04
Rafehh I had the same problem. I'm a Melkite catholic (agnostic lol) and my wife practises no religion. I was told to register them I had to specify a religion. I told them that they were atheist and I was met with a silence on the phone. Lol
I won't be registering them as lebanese either anymore.
09 January 2013, 10:13
21
yeah that's horrible. i'm an atheist and still they got me under shia sect also.
when i said i want to be atheist, the government clerk watched me in dismay.
09 January 2013, 11:47
02
I think the lebanese laws are a joke. On top of that my sister is married to a fantastic australian gentleman and my nephew will never be recognised as lebanese even though they spend 6 months in Australia and 6 months in Lebanon. It is an absolute joke.
09 January 2013, 11:48
01
Couldn't agree more. All the politicians are puppeteers and the people are the puppets.
09 January 2013, 14:00
00
Yea, after we integrate our society into one nation we can fix the election laws. The marriage, inheritance, and citizen laws are a good place to start.
09 January 2013, 14:03
01
Loooool I didn't even think bout that! He's been watching them meet and argue, and fight, and waste tax payer money and time while all along it's unconstitutional? Fishy.
How come he's the only one that knows? We don't have any constitutional lawyers in this country or something?
09 January 2013, 04:43
12
Way to go Mr. President. The Orthodox Gathering law is against the basic human rights, so it is definitely unconstitutional. Over the past 150 years we went through uprising, revolutions, and a civil war to mend confessional fences, we should not rebuild them through an electoral law. Any law is better than this law that brings nothing but divisions and misery. If our politicians are stupid and blindsided with greed, that does not mean that we are.
09 January 2013, 14:13
01
Christians need to come back to Lebanon first.
I have to say tho, Christians are the only truly democratic ppl here, electing their official according to who does the most for them. It sucks that it's also a huge drawback in Lebanon, because it leaves em divided and fighting amongst each other. It's sad to say, but if they were lead by one warlord their say would b greater.
Anyway, I don't see a law fixing this. Until the Christians start comming back, or at least stop leaving, their decline will continue.
09 January 2013, 10:16
11
this comment show how unpatriotic you are. that you are not really lebanese.
i use lebanese documents when i go there, and i do it because i love lebanon despite all the problems in it.
lebanon is not about politics it's about country people nature and sweets
09 January 2013, 14:16
00
Looool does any1 live here?!?! Man this country is a real sh#%^ole...
09 January 2013, 12:29
11
M8ers call for the power of the president to be restored and when the president has a say they criticize him! LOL
double M8 standards as usual!!!!
09 January 2013, 12:40
10
he takes time for thinking unlike you sissy boy... and talks when he is sure of what he says: he is a responsible man unlike you sissy boy....
seems you are disappointed that your pimp has been disavowed! hahahaha!
09 January 2013, 12:35
11
and the orthodox law is clearly a sectarian idea! why should a christian vote for a christian if he prefers a sunni whom he believes is better? why should a sunnni vote for a sunni if he thinks a shia is better? LOL!
aoun keep on saying that you should choose people for the skills and not for their religion! and he supports a law which is the contrary to what he preaches! he and all those supporting this law...
those pretending thay want secularism and support this law clearly contradict themselves! hopefully being ridiculous doesn t kill!
09 January 2013, 13:59
10
lol! stupid as usual sissy boy... so when do you think our dear politicians will start working on secularism? i guess never because of wankers like u who are happy of sectarianism... if you were truly secular in your demented paranoid mind you ll criticize very law that is based on sectarianism and not defending laws that your pimp is telling you to defend! it s called having a free mind but as you are the perfect FPM idiot you just repeat what your lover master tells you too...
if you were truly defending secularism you wouldn t vote to tell our politicians that enough is enough... but of course you can t help thinking of the rights of chrisitans of sunnis of shiahs and so on but NEVER the right of lebanese... you are pitiful and you don t even know it, like all those who belong to psychiatric hospitals...
but keep on you are truly the biggest clown ever, lacks you just a red nose...
09 January 2013, 16:48
00
What do you achieve by increased secularism? Even more sectarism. Don't preach one thing and ask for the complete opposite. This will only lead us against the wall. To vote secular we need an agreement between M8 and M14 and the others on what Lebanon we want. We need to recreate trust among the Lebanese opponent parties. We cannot go on on accusing each others of being traitors. We cannot keep on reacting to what we suppose are the intentions of the opponent party with measures that have a very negative result on Lebanon.
09 January 2013, 12:49
11
It's hilarious to see how happy and uninformed M14ers are here. They're praising the president for stopping the Orthodox law but they haven't read his next words. Please read what he says about proportional representation and then tell me that Saad Hariri will agree to it. Your Aoun-ophobia has made you demented zombies.
09 January 2013, 14:06
10
yes i do not represent M14 because unlike you sissy boy i have a free mind and do not repeat what i m told to! and yes lebanese should stop voting to teach the politicians that we are no more the fools they want us to be! but i guess being the fool of FPM suits you as you have no brain of yours to think properly but rather you think through orangina s eyes! you and that stupid lqu7!
religious figures should go to jail each time they talk about politics. they are the ones maintaining lebanon in their grip and manipulating weak minds like yours into the defense of sects!
but dementia forbids you to think further than your red clown nose!
keep on you are really entertaining and typical of the people who keeps lebanon in the past by privileging a sect rather than their nationality!
see ya sissy boy
09 January 2013, 16:18
10
yeah go vote for incompetent people... like a brave sheep you are. if politicians see how low the percentage of people vote they would start asking thesmselves questions...
no vote is also a political message, but that your FPM sheep mind cannot grasp with the unique neurone of yours, sissy boy....
09 January 2013, 14:19
01
FlameThrower, I wasn't talking about peace whom I don't read anyway. I'm referring to Sidon93 who is most definately disappointed after he's done what I instructed in my post.
09 January 2013, 14:29
01
The only law that will pass is a law that will guarentee the durzi power in Lebanon. Mark my words, jumblatt is the tie-breaker, there's no changing that for now. The first camp that comes up with a law that protects the durzi voice will get jumblatt votes.
As much as one can criticize jumblatt, you have to agree that he's been walking the perfect path, straight down the middle. His alliance with the president, and putting his ministers political weight behind Suleiman was the best move.
It would be nice to see an independent movement in Lebanon.
09 January 2013, 14:34
01
You guys talk about how sectarian the electoral orthodox draft law is and how unorthodox it is to have such a law but if you look at the reality of things in Lebanon it is asking for it. Why do you think interracial marriage is common or interreligion marriage is common between people. It isn't because these people are asking for a division or wanting to promote racism, on the contrary it is because these people belong and have belonged to a certain culture for centuries and religion is part of our culture in Lebanon. It shouldn´t be a scary thing.We are apples and oranges and bananas living in one basket. We might get mixed sometimes and it shouldnt cause a problem but the matter of the fact is that apples will most likely choose apples first, oranges orange and bananas banana. So i dont see why this draft law would be bad?
09 January 2013, 18:34
00
instead of struggling in worthless meetings to find a BS law that would protect their interests , they d rather meet to stop sectariansim and find a law to stop it! but as they are just defending their low interests they dont give a sh.. as to improve the country as they all benefit from it by frightening people! they all pretend to want secular laws but when it comes to it they all defend their sects!
Although the Taif Agreement identified the abolition of political sectarianism as a national priority they all forgot about that!
M14 always pretend to defend this agreement but never refers to the end of sectarianism! aoun pretends to be in favor of secularism but always talk about christian rights and never offers a solution to implement it!!!!
hypocrits they are...
