Berri Makes Last-Minute Hybrid Vote Law Proposal after Mustaqbal-LF Deal
Speaker Nabih Berri has proposed a hybrid electoral law in response to a last-minute deal between al-Mustaqbal bloc and the Lebanese Forces on a similar vote plan that sought to avert differences among the March 14 alliance's members.
Berri scrambled to hold a meeting of around 30 MPs from the March 8 coalition on Tuesday and late at night made his proposal after the announcement of a deal on a hybrid vote law between al-Mustaqbal and the LF.
The proposal of Berri, who is also the the head of the Amal movement, calls for electing 64 MPs based on the proportional representation system and the other half via the winner-takes-all system and keeps the number of districts at 26.
According to An Nahar daily published Wednesday, Berri's suggestion had received the backing of several March 8 and March 14 blocs.
The al-Mustaqbal-LF deal, which also received the backing of MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front, lies in having 54 MPs elected under the winner-takes-all system and 46 percent via the proportional representation system.
Late night discussions among the members of the three parties focused on having 6 governorates and around 26 districts.
But the official announcement of the deal will be made during a press conference in parliament on Wednesday morning ahead of four consecutive sessions that Berri has called for with the sole item of the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal on the agenda.
The Orthodox plan is the only draft-law approved by the joint parliamentary committees. But it is severely criticized by al-Mustaqbal, the National Struggle Front and the March 14 alliance's independent Christian MPs.
The proposal considers Lebanon a single electoral district and allows each sect to vote for its own MPs under a proportional representation system.
Its opponents claim that it encourages extremism and leads to more sectarianism in the country. But the March 8 alliance and mainly Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement stress that the plan is the only way to guarantee the best representation of Christians.
LF chief Samir Geagea expected Berri to react positively to the proposal that his party made along with al-Mustaqbal, saying a hybrid vote law was the speaker's first choice from day one.
“Berri should be very happy because consensus was reached on his plan,” Geagea told An Nahar.
“We will agree with Berri on the shortest and best way to adopt the draft-law in parliament, a move that should take place on Wednesday,” he said.
The last-minute deal between the March 14 parties on Tuesday came after differences between them on the Orthodox proposal.
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