Aoun's Envoy Ferzli Says Orthodox Plan Remains Number 1 Proposal after Meeting Geagea
Former MP Elie Ferzli, who has been tasked by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to discuss with Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea the electoral law, said Sunday that the Orthodox Gathering proposal remains the best option if MPs failed to agree on a new vote plan.
In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Ferzli described his meeting with Geagea in Maarab on Saturday as “positive.”
The Orthodox Gathering is still the “number one proposal if there was a failure to agree on a new law before a parliamentary session” set by Speaker Nabih Berri for May 15, he said.
An Nahar daily said Sunday that Aoun asked Geagea to meet with Ferzli during a recent telephone call that the FPM chief made.
The FPM, the LF, the Phalange party and the Marada movement had announced the proposal as their choice for a new vote law. But last month, the rival Maronite leaders decided to suspend their proposal in a bid to give rival groups a chance to agree on an alternative law.
They however declared the 1960 election law as “dead and buried” and pledged not to run for elections under it.
An Nahar quoted Geagea as saying that the LF and its ally in the March 14 coalition al-Mustaqbal bloc are working hard to reach consensus on a hybrid vote law that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation system.
Berri had first made the proposal, but the rival parties are making behind the scenes negotiations to introduce amendments to it.
They have until May 15 to reach consensus on a new law before Berri calls for a session to agree on a system that would govern this year's elections.
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