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Qassem Urges Hariri to Support Proportional Representation

Hizbullah deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem urged on Monday ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri to support the adoption of an electoral law based on proportional representation.

“We are waiting his (Hariri’s) agreement on a fair proportional electoral law, so he gets all the votes of his supporters and the rest of us take the votes of our supporters,” Qassem said in a statement issued by Hizbullah’s media relations department.

Hariri noted on Saturday that the 2013 parliamentary elections will mark a “major turning point” in Lebanon’s history.

He said that the ballot boxes are the best reply to Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s statements that the March 14 forces will not hold the elections in light of the party’s possession of arms.

Qassem stated that the proportional representation is the best electoral law that reflects the real numbers of supporters for each candidate.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel had proposed recently an electoral law based on proportional representation to be adopted in the 2013 parliamentary polls.

The proposition had sparked controversy among the rival political parties as Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat rejected the proposal, while the March 8 forces have voiced their support for it.

The March 14-led opposition has meanwhile maintained its commitment to the amended 1960 law that was adopted during the 2009 parliamentary elections.


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