Geagea Holds 'Positive' Meeting with Bassil and Ferzli on Electoral Law

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday held talks at his headquarters in Maarab with caretaker Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil and former deputy speaker Elie al-Ferzli.

LF MPs George Adwan and Elie Kairouz also attended the meeting, according to the National News Agency.

"I visited Rabiyeh after my meeting in Maarab and what's important is to 'avoid the trap' of the 1960 law," Ferzli told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

MTV said the conferees were "very relieved because talks witnessed extreme positivity."

It said the LF and the FPM discussed "all the information they have and agreed that the current period is critical at the Christian, Lebanese and regional levels and that the electoral law must be approached from this angle, not according to narrow calculations."

"Each party voiced its opinion concerning proper Christian representation and they agreed to hold further meetings," MTV added.

Meanwhile, LBCI television quoted sources informed about the meeting as saying that it reflects “serious intentions from the two parties, the LF and the FPM, in an attempt to push things forward towards an electoral law which will be approved in 10 days” during the plenary parliamentary session.

“Discussions are aimed at finding a common stance before May 15,” the sources added, noting that “the positive atmospheres can be attributed to the fact that all Christian parties are seeking equal power-sharing” between Christians and Muslims.

“Equal power-sharing is nonnegotiable and this was reiterated in the Maarab meeting and until today it is represented in the Orthodox Gathering law in the absence of an alternative law,” the sources added.

Ferzli, who has been tasked by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to discuss the issue of the electoral law with Geagea, 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 systems.

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.