Consensus on Hybrid Electoral Draft Law Far-Fetched

Consensus between rival parties on a hybrid electoral draft-law was on Wednesday not looming on the horizon after reports said that Hizbullah rejected it and talks between March 14 opposition officials and the Progressive Socialist Party slowed.

Hizbullah informed Speaker Nabih Berri that it rejected the hybrid proposal, which a team of experts and MPs from the opposition al-Mustaqbal movement and the centrist Progressive Socialist Party are seeking to draft, al-Liwaa daily reported.

The hybrid draft-law combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems but the main obstacle to a deal among the different blocs lies in the division of districts.

Al-Liwaa said relations between Berri and PSP chief Walid Jumblat, who were coordinating on the proposal, have also cooled over converging viewpoints on a parliamentary session to approve the Orthodox Gathering proposal which has been approved by the joint parliamentary committees despite the rejection of al-Mustaqbal, the PSP and the March 14 opposition alliance's independent Christian MPs.

Berri has been procrastinating on inviting for a General Assembly to give the rival blocs more time to reach consensus on a draft-law.

But the speaker's insistence to elect half of the MPs under the winner-takes-all system and the remaining half under the proportional representation system has thwarted the joint attempt of al-Mustaqbal and PSP to seek the consensus of the rest of the factions.

The PSP is insisting on allowing 70 percent of candidates to be chosen under the first system and 30 percent under the second system, An Nahar daily said.

Minister Wael Abou Faour, who is close to Jumblat, met with Berri on Tuesday in an attempt to resolve the differences.

Their meeting came a day after al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora visited Jumblat for the same purpose.

“The discussions between al-Mustaqbal and the PSP are focusing on a salvation plan that should receive consensus,” sources close to Saniora told An Nahar.

Independent opposition lawmaker Butros Harb justified the slowed talks among the different factions, by saying they were waiting for the March 21 cabinet session that will discuss the establishment of the authority that will oversee the polls before taking any action on a vote law.

“They are waiting to see the government's decision because it will set the fate of the elections and the call for holding them based on the 1960 law,” he told An Nahar.

President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati have signed a decree calling for the elections to take place based on the 1960 law that was used in the 2009 elections.

Their call have drawn the ire of the March 8 majority coalition which has totally rejected the law.