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Bassil Assures Proportionality en Route to Completion

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil said on Friday from Bkirki that an electoral law based on proportional representation was en route to completion.

“The entire electoral law discussions have been appropriate to reinstate our coexistence and diversity, where one enjoys a sense of privacy and simultaneously preserves multiplicity,” said Bassil after meeting Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

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Report: Nasrallah Receives Bassil for Voting System Talks

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah received Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, where talks focused on the parliamentary electoral law, al-Akhbar daily reported on Friday.

The meeting took place a “few days ago” and it looked into “an integrated proposal as for a voting system format that was submitted by Bassil with a post-election roadmap, ” said the daily.

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MP Alain Aoun: Presidential Iftar Will Help Ease Tension

Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Alain Aoun stressed on Thursday that President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri are not in a dispute and the misunderstanding between the two is a mere “divergence of views.”

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Report: 'Silent' Crisis Emerges to Public between Once Allies Hariri-Jumblat

A “silent” crisis lingering since April between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has exploded in public as the two men indirectly traded corruption accusations, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The crisis began first in April when Hariri supported the so-called qualification “sectarian” parliamentary electoral law, proposed by Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil, which Jumblat criticized as a format that marginalizes his role and the Druze community, said the daily.

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Report: Marada Says FPM Seeking Vacuum at Legislative Authority

The Marada Movement has raised concerns of vacuum at the legislative authority and accused the Free Patriotic Movement of driving the country into vacuum and having the parliamentary elections staged based on the controversial majoritarian 1960 law, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Thursday.

“The FPM is seeking vacuum despite its repeated assertions that it is not. Its deeds indicate so far a desire to turn to the 1960 law,” Marada sources told the daily on condition of anonymity.

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Berri: Will Call for Extraordinary Session if Necessary, Redistribution of Seats Impermissible

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated on Wednesday rejection of any attempt to reallocate parliamentary seats from one electoral district to another, pointing out that he would call for another extraordinary parliament session if the June 5 meeting fails to convene, al-Joumhouria daily reported.

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Report: Presidential Iftar to Accelerate Agreement on Electoral law

Countdown towards an agreement on a new voting system has reportedly begun, as attention turns to an official annual Ramadan banquet hosted by President Michel Aoun at the Presidential Palace on Thursday, after a 4-year break, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

“Aoun has invited top Lebanese officials to an Iftar including Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri, Muslim and Christian religious authorities, former Presidents and PMs, ministers, deputies, military and security leaders, economic and social bodies and others,” well-informed sources told the daily.

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Lebanese Ministry Calls for Ban of Wonder Woman Movie

Lebanon's ministry of economy is seeking to ban the 2017 Wonder Woman movie because its lead actress — Gal Gadot — is an Israeli, though a formal request for a ban has not yet been received, a Lebanese security official said Tuesday.

A ban would require a recommendation from a six-ministry-member committee, a process that also has not yet began, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

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Raad: Hizbullah 'Optimistic' about Chances of Agreeing on New Law

Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad said there were many reasons to be optimistic about prospects to agree on a new electoral law, mainly that discussions focus on a full proportional representation vote law format, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

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Report: Hizbullah Targets Nusra Posts in Flita, Kills and Wounds Several

Hizbullah and the Syrian Army have reportedly attacked military vehicles for al-Nusra Front militant group in the outskirts of the town of Flita in the Syrian Qalamoun region killing and wounding several, Hizbullah's al-Manar TV said on Tuesday

The TV said: “Several Nusra militants were killed and others were wounded when Hizbullah and the Syrian army fired guided missiles at posts controlled by al-Nusra in Flita.”

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