Kanaan: MPs Keen on Lebanon Must Head to Parliament to Agree on Electoral Law

Free Patriotic Movement MP Ibrahim Kanaan stated on Tuesday that an agreement on a parliamentary electoral law is the first step towards staging the elections.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “MPs who are keen on Lebanon should head to parliament to agree on a new electoral law.”

“MPs belong at parliament and a specific legislative course should be taken to approve the new law,” he stressed.

The Orthodox Gathering law was approved at the joint parliamentary committees and it should now be subject to a vote at parliament, Kanaan added.

“Any violation of the constitutional measures demonstrate that some sides are keen on obstructing the elections and extending the term of the current parliament,” he declared.

“Our demand for a parliament session to be held is a constitutional right,” he said.

“The attendance of MPs is necessary and binding,” he stressed.

On efforts to form a new government, he remarked: “It should be comprised of all Lebanese factions.”

The Orthodox Gathering electoral law was approved at the joint parliamentary committees and it enjoys the support of the FPM, Marada Movement, Lebanese Forces, and Phalage Party.

The law, which divides Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, was rejected by President Michel Suleiman, caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, the Mustaqbal bloc, independent March 14 MPs, and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat.

They said that the law fuels sectarian divisions in Lebanon.