Bassil Lauds Geagea's Stance, Says it is a 'Historic Moment'
Energy Minister Jebran Bassil lauded Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea's stance in balancing fair representation in the next parliamentary elections with the problematic issue of disarmament, describing Geagea's position as “historic.”
“We might have doubted the stances of the Lebanese Forces before, but not anymore,” said Bassil, a member of the March 8 Free Patriotic Movement, in an interview to the al-Akhbar daily Thursday.
“We cannot do that today. We must give them credit for backing the Orthodox Gathering proposal despite those who reject it,” the minister added.
“We cannot but appreciate Geagea's saying that the right representation of all factions is constitutional and equally important to all other sovereign issues. We laud his historic stance,” added Bassil.
In an interview to the daily Wednesday, Geagea balanced between his Sunni allies and Hizbullah saying that “well representation of all factions is as important as disarmament. Equal representation is the major issue for the Lebanese Forces.”
The Christian LF and Phalange parties from the March 14 alliance have announced their backing to the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal which envisages Lebanon a single district and calls for each sect to vote for its MPs in a propositional representation system.
Their Christian rivals from the March 8 allies – the FPM and the Marada – are already staunch backers of the proposal.
But al-Mustaqbal has criticized it for harming the social fabric.
Bassil stressed that March 8 will reject any electoral law that does not secure division of powers between Muslims and Christians.
“What we are suggesting is a draft-law that has real division of powers. Those who reject the Orthodox Proposal would also be rejecting real partnership,” he said.
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