Berri: March 8 to Reject Electoral Authority, Sets April Deadline for Vote Law Consensus

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed Monday that the authority that will oversee the parliamentary elections will not be established for being part of a “dead” electoral law.

The Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance will vote against it if it was put on the agenda of the cabinet, Berri told As Safir newspaper.

Last week, President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati signed a decree calling for the elections on June 9 based on the 1960 law, drawing the ire of the March 8 coalition.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel’s call for candidates to register for the polls starting Monday also raised fears that the elections would be held based on the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 elections.

The law considers the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system.

Despite his frustration from the signing of the decree, Berri said he backs Suleiman's latest remarks that there was a 95 percent chance for the polls to be held on time.

However Berri said: “The rate should be 100 percent because it is vital for the elections to take place.”

The speaker reiterated that rival parties had enough time to reach consensus on an electoral draft-law. But warned that they should strike a deal before the end of April to allow the interior ministry to prepare for the polls set to be held on June 9.

When asked about the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal, which has been adopted by the joint parliamentary committees, Berri reiterated that he wasn't rushing to call for a parliamentary session to approve it.

But if the rival sides failed to agree on the new vote law by the end of April, then he would take the appropriate measures.

The proposal, which considers Lebanon a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, has been rejected by Suleiman, Miqati, the centrist Progressive Socialist Party, the opposition al-Mustaqbal movement and the March 14 opposition's Christian independent lawmakers.

They have warned that if parliament adopts the draft it would harm the social fabric and lead to extremism.