Berri Vows to Confront Any Attempt to Postpone Elections
Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday insisted that the upcoming parliamentary elections will be held on time and that he would confront any attempt to postpone the polls.
“Some are trying to raise and stir some dilemmas” regarding the electoral law's technicalities and implementation, Berri told lawmakers during the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting, while stressing that the perceived attempts will not manage to thwart the elections.
Commenting on the debate over the issue of creating so-called polling megacenters that allow voters to cast ballots away from their hometowns, the Speaker pointed out that he was the “first” politician to demand pre-registration of voters, “whereas some of those who want it today had been among its fiercest opponents.”
“Such amendments would open the door to canceling the law and consequently the elections, and this is something that we will not tolerate,” Berri pledged.
He was apparently referring to remarks voiced Tuesday by Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, who said that the FPM will “fight for” electoral reforms.
“They have come up with a lot of excuses to back down from the reforms,” Bassil said.
Emphasizing that the law compels the government to introduce magnetic voting cards, the minister said a draft law would be necessary to postpone the procedure to the next elections.
“We can agree in advance on the issue. It would only take two minutes and it would not lead to further amendments,” Bassil reassured.
Source: Naharnet
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