Geagea Considers Holding Elections Based on 1960 Law a 'Treason'
Lebanese Force leader Samir Geagea said on Tuesday that the parliament should convene to vote on an electoral law, describing attempts to hold elections based on the 1960 electoral law as “treason.”
“The caretaker cabinet session is unconstitutional and a charade,” Geagea said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.
But caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati snapped back, saying in a statement that he called for the cabinet session after consulting with President Michel Suleiman out of the conviction that the government should remain committed to the constitution.
Geagea expressed surprise that Hizbullah, AMAL and the Free Patriotic Movement agreed to attend a meeting for the caretaker cabinet, which witnessed the formation of an independent authority to oversee the elections.
“Two months ago the three parties threatened to topple the cabinet over the matter,” Geagea said.
He pointed out that his party favors extending the parliamentary tenure for several months over holding the elections according to the 1960 law.
Geagea accused Hizbullah of seeking to extend the parliament’s mandate by two years as it is “deeply involved militarily in Syria while its ally the FPM thinks it would be able to win according to the 1960 law.”
On Friday, 26 members of the Lebanese Forces arrived at the Interior Ministry to submit their candidacies for upcoming elections based on the 1960 electoral law.
The support for the extension of the legislature's term that expires on June 20 began growing after the rival parties failed to agree on a new electoral law despite the adoption of the Orthodox plan by the joint parliamentary committees.
The plan considers Lebanon a single district and allows each sect to vote for its own lawmakers under a proportional representation system.
But its criticism paved way for another proposal that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems
Despite all the efforts no agreement was reached to replace the 1960 law, which adopts the qada an electoral district and is based on the winner-takes-all system.
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