Report: Bkirki Summit Preceded by LF, FPM Talks, to Be Followed by Other Meetings
The Christian summit at Bkirki on Friday was “positive”, with bilateral contacts being held between the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement preceding the talks, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday.
It added that the statement that followed the meeting was issued “by Bkirki and not the gatherers,” revealing that this will not be the last Christian summit.
The date of the second meeting however has not been disclosed.
Informed Lebanese Forces sources told al-Akhbar that its leader Samir Geagea did not attend the meeting for “purely security reasons that Maronite patriarch is fully aware of.”
Al-Akhbar reported however that Geagea did not attend the meeting because he knew in advance of the content of its closing statement.
"The meeting discussed the Orthodox Gathering's draft electoral law in addition to other proposals that secure fair Christian representation,” al-Jadeed television reported on Friday.
Sources added to al-Akhbar that the talks were not limited to the electoral draft-law, but they also addressed various issues in Lebanon including the Baabda Declaration and the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
On the draft-law, the gatherers agreed that their primary choice will be the Orthodox Gathering proposal should an agreement over another law fail to be reached.
The meeting, chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, was attended by FPM leader MP Michel Aoun, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh.
Gemayel will soon hold talks with President Michel Suleiman in order to inform him of the details of the meeting, said the sources.
Al-Akhbar noted that al-Rahi had held talks with Suleiman on Thursday over the discussions on the new parliamentary electoral law.
Meanwhile, FPM sources told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Saturday that the Bkirki meeting was aimed at renewing support for the Orthodox Gathering draft-law and “confront the campaign against it by Christian figures backed by the Mustaqbal Movement.”
Furthermore, informed sources said that the Christian leaders also tackled Suleiman's declaration that the Orthodox Gathering law is unconstitutional, noting that the president had renewed this stance to al-Rahi during a “lengthy” meeting they held on Thursday.
The patriarch had reportedly responded to Suleiman's objection by saying: “The Patriarchate does not adopt the law, but we seek consensus among the Maronite leaderships.”
The president then replied: “Can consensus take place over an unconstitutional issue?”
Suleiman reportedly criticized the approach on addressing electoral laws by the factions that advocated the Orthodox Gathering suggestion, wondering: “How can they vote for the government proposal and then back another draft-law?”
“Why don't they discuss the government proposal and possible amendments to it?” he asked.
Hizbullah, the FPM, Tashnag, and AMAL parties all voiced their support for the Orthodox Gathering law.
The government proposed in August an electoral draft-law based on proportional representation and 13 districts.
It was met with rejected by the March 14-led opposition and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat.
The opposition slammed the draft-law as being tailored to the March 8 camp's interests.
On Friday, the parliamentary subcommittee completed the discussions on electoral draft-laws and the number of MPs, and is set to convene again next week to announce the minutes of the deliberations.
On Sunday, the Christian four-party committee on the electoral law agreed to endorse the electoral system proposed by the so-called Orthodox Gathering, under which each sect would elect its own lawmakers.
March 14 Independent Christian leaders had held a press conference in which they criticized the proposal.
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