Higher Consultative Committee to Decide Fate of 1960 Law on Thursday

The justice ministry's higher consultative committee tasked with studying the legality of adopting the 1960 law in the upcoming parliamentary elections will hold talks on Thursday to decide the fate of the electoral law.

“The meeting could be the last one depending on the discussions among the members of the committee,” Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi told As Safir newspaper.

He pointed out that the committee's role is consultative only, noting that “other factors have a major impact on the fate of the polls.”

The committee, according to the newspaper, is expected to tackle the legality of the formation of a committee to oversee the electoral process based on the 1960 winner-takes-all system.

The committee is formed of six members including Qortbawi.

The 1960 law, which considers the qada an electoral district, was adopted in the 2009 parliamentary elections.

The formation of a special committee in charge of overseeing the polls is a mandatory requirement for the electoral process to take place, as per the law.

The rival March 14 and 8 alliances are at loggerheads over the electoral law, however, both coalitions reject the adoption of the 1960 law.

President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati had recently signed a decree calling for the elections on June 9 based on the 1960 law.

The March 8 alliance is holding onto the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal was adopted by the joint parliamentary committees, while the centrist Progressive Socialist Party and al-Mustaqbal movement are mulling the possibility of adopting a hybrid electoral law to replace the proposal.

The Orthodox Gathering, 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 PSP, the opposition al-Mustaqbal movement and the March 14 opposition's Christian independent lawmakers.