Miqati Says Polls to be Held on Time Unless Parliament Decides to Postpone them

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Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that his cabinet is committed to hold the parliamentary elections on time.

“Polls will be carried out on June 9 according to the current draft-law,” Miqati told reports at the Grand Serail.

He pointed out that the parliament is the only authority that has jurisdictions to postpone it.

Earlier on Tuesday, parliamentary sources told al-Liwaa newspaper reported that President Michel Suleiman would consider to postpone the upcoming parliamentary elections if the foes agreed to reach consensus over the electoral draft-law that better represents all sects.

According to the sources, the elections would be postponed until September if the decision was taken.

“If all parties agreed to postpone the elections then the cabinet has to refer a draft-law to the parliament for approval,” the sources pointed out.

However, they said that Suleiman prefers not to extend the term of the parliament, even if for one day, as he is holding on to carry out the polls on time.

Concerning the formation of the an independent authority overseeing the elections, Miqati told reporters that the government will discuss during its session on Wednesday at the Baabda Palace the matter.

“We will tackle the issue but we will not name the members of the authority,” the premier said.

The March 14 and 8 coalition representatives have been holding crunch talks to find common ground over the electoral law that will be adopted during the upcoming elections.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said in December that the parliamentary elections will be held on June 9.

A parliamentary subcommittee is currently tasked with discussing the hybrid proposal that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems made by Speaker Nabih Berri's Liberation and Development parliamentary bloc.

The subcommittee has previously discussed several proposals, the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal, a draft-law that divides Lebanon into 50 districts based on a winner-takes-all system and a bill referred to parliament by the government and that calls for 13 districts based on proportionality.

Comments 1
Thumb andre.jabbour 12 February 2013, 14:11

I'm against any postponing of the elections. I don't care what M8/14 want, they don't represent me!