Berri Attempts to Persuade Mustaqbal, Jumblat of New Electoral Law: No Alternative to Proportionality
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Speaker Nabih Berri kicked off last week efforts to persuade the Mustaqbal Movement and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to agree on a new parliamentary electoral law, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.
Sources following the speaker's efforts said that Berri was “adamant in his position that there can be no substitute to proportional representation” in the electoral law.
Berri had held talks with the head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora on January 18 and he is set to meet with Jumblat next week.
The speaker's sources added: “A new electoral law should be based on proportional representation or a combination of the winner-takes-all and proportional systems.”
He said that he is unable to persuade a “central political camp to advocate a law that is not based on proportional representation.”
Berri made his remarks in reference to himself, Hizbullah, President Michel Suleiman, and Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
The government approved in August a draft electoral law based on proportional representation and 13 districts.
The draft law was rejected by Jumblat and the March 14-led opposition that deemed it as being tailored to the March 8 camp's interests.
Meanwhile, sources monitoring the March 14 camp told An Nahar that the Mustaqbal bloc may accept an electoral law based on the winner-takes-all system and 40 to 45 districts.
March 14 sources told the daily: “Time is beginning to run out over discussions on a new electoral law and any stalling may lead to the postponement of the elections or a return to the 1960 law, which is rejected by the opposition.”
20 January 2013, 09:17
12
as I said somewhere else, m8 are seeing their hopes of passing a law that will guarantee them to win the upcoming elections.
we will start seeing the rhetoric going up as well as threats and maybe more assassination attempts.
m8 might resort to a civil war which they will definitely lose.
they cannot afford to lose the upcoming elections otherwise they will no longer exist as they are.
they will lose their hegemony on the country, and that is a must, irrespective of anything else.
thank God, they are digging their hole themselves.
20 January 2013, 14:42
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FlameThrower? I keep wondering how lucky you must be... You must be excessively rich and unemployed because you spend your entire day commenting on Naharnet, and you actually have time for all that bull! :D Congrats, and lucky you!
20 January 2013, 15:13
10
the advantage of the orthodox proposal is that it gets the christians to vote for their own. The disadvantage is that it will give a new advantage to the sunni extrimists, salafis and jamaa islamiyya and weaken the moderate mustakbal.
For all my mistrust of mustakbal, i still prefer them over the salafis. I wish the sunni could wisen up and vote for a centrist mikati block instead of those middleage islamists.
20 January 2013, 16:03
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i am with the full implementation of the orthodox law,including the sect of the president ...
the president must be voted from the people directly, and there must be candidates from all sects...and the people decide.
20 January 2013, 16:59
11
M8 led by Hizbullah is thinking of itself and M14 led by Future Movement is thinking of itself.
Only Christians keep on getting screwed.
