Rival MPs Resume Discussions on Electoral Draft-Law

Rival lawmakers from the March 8 and 14 alliances met for the second day in a row on Wednesday to agree on an electoral draft-law ahead of this year's parliamentary elections.

The MPs, members of a parliamentary subcommittee headed by Robert Ghanem, held two rounds of talks on Tuesday.

The lawmaker, who is replacing Deputy Speaker Farid Makari for being aboard, said after the first round held on Wednesday that the committee members discussed a draft-law proposed by the March 14 Christian MPs to divide Lebanon into 50 small-sized districts based on a winner-takes-all system.

Ghanem described the meeting as “positive.”

The rival parties “are exerting efforts to reach common ground without excluding any party and to better represent minorities in the upcoming elections,” he pointed out.

On Tuesday the MP said that the subcommittee discussed several proposals, adding the door was not closed to any other proposal.

The latest suggestion that received the backing of top rival Christian parties -The Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces, the Phalange Party and the Marada movement - was that of the Orthodox Gathering which calls for each sect to elect its own MPs under a proportional representation system based on a nationwide district.

But the proposal was criticized by President Michel Suleiman, Premier Najib Miqati, National Struggle Front leader Walid Jumblat and several other Christian MPs and officials.

The cabinet has also referred a bill to parliament that calls for dividing Lebanon into 13 medium districts based on proportional representation.

The subcommittee's March 14 opposition members are Phalange MP Sami Gemayel, Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan, and al-Mustaqbal MPs Ahmed Fatfat and Serge Torsarkissian.

They are staying at the Etoile Hotel near the parliament building in downtown Beirut for security reasons.

Hizbullah lawmaker Ali Fayyad, the Free Patriotic Movement’s Alain Aoun, MP Ali Bazzi from Amal and Tashnag Party’s Hagop Pakradounian are the March 8 alliance's representatives in the subcommittee.

The subcommittee also includes MP Akram Shehayyeb from Jumblat's centrist National Struggle Front.

The main focus of discussions is the number and size of districts, the type of system, and the number of MPs in parliament which currently stands at 128.