BEIRUT: President Michel Aoun Thursday sent his strongest message yet against a new extension of Parliament’s term, or holding elections under the controversial 1960 majoritarian law by pledging to remove obstacles blocking an agreement on a new vote system.
Aoun’s remarks were interpreted as targeting Speaker Nabih Berri, who last week scheduled a Parliament session to extend its term for one year and also MP Walid Jumblatt who had previously called for an amended version of the 1960 electoral law as a solution to the monthslong deadlock over a new voting system.
In the meantime, the European Union urged rival Lebanese parties to quickly agree on a new electoral law in order to stage timely and peaceful elections.
“Conducting timely, peaceful and transparent parliamentary elections is an important step to ensure the normal functioning of the Lebanese democratic institutions, in the interest and for the benefit of the Lebanese people,” the EU delegation and EU ambassadors in Lebanon said in a statement.
“A democratically elected Parliament is an important element for the international community supporting Lebanon in its strive for stabilization and economic development,” it added.
The EU also reaffirmed its “commitment to provide support for the preparation and the implementation of timely parliamentary elections in Lebanon.”
Amid the lingering crisis over a new electoral law, Berri is expected to unveil an initiative next week based on proportionality, political sources said.
“Berri’s initiative will be an improved version of former Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government’s proportional vote proposal,” a political source told The Daily Star. However, the source said doubts persisted that Berri’s initiative would help resolve the crisis over a vote law. “We are still stuck in the stalemate over a new electoral law,” the source said.
Mikati’s government had proposed in 2012 an electoral draft law based on proportional representation that would divide the country into 13 districts and referred the draft law to Parliament, but it was not passed.
Aoun said it’s time for political rivals to agree on a new vote law to govern the upcoming parliamentary elections, reiterating his staunch opposition to the 1960 system and an extension of Parliament’s mandate, which has been extended in 2013 and 2014.
“No one should dream of extending Parliament’s term, or keeping the same [1960 electoral] law in place or a vacuum [in Parliament],” Aoun said in meetings with visitors at Baabda Palace. Noting that he had promised in his constitutional oath to work for a new electoral law, Aoun, according to a statement released by his media office, said: “We will be able to sort out all wrinkles that prevent an agreement on a new electoral law and we will reach this law.”
“It’s time to draft a new electoral law nine years later,” he said. “We have succeeded in building our national unity and we will work to achieve comprehensive citizenship to everyone.”
Aoun, who discussed with Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk ongoing talks by the rival parties to reach an agreement on a new electoral law, criticized Parliament’s failure to forge a vote system. “If Parliament has been unable to draft a new electoral law for nine years, that is since 2008, what can it do? This is entirely unacceptable,” Aoun said, adding that Parliament’s current mandate has become similar to “a king’s mandate.”
Aoun’s remarks came a week after he suspended Parliament’s meeting for one month to prevent a new extension of its term, thus averting a fresh political deadlock for now. Aoun’s move came in response to Berri’s decision to convene Parliament on April 13 to extend the body’s term for one year.
Following the suspension of Parliament’s meeting, Berri decided to convene the next session on May 15 to give rival factions additional time to agree on a new electoral law.
The suspension of Parliament’s meeting has also averted a much-feared confrontation between supporters of the three major Christian parties opposing extension of Parliament’s mandate and security forces.
The Lebanese Forces, the Free Patriotic Movement and the Kataeb Party had called for mass protests last Thursday in central Beirut to prevent Parliament from voting on an extension of its mandate to June 2018.
MP Hikmat Dib from the FPM warned Thursday of street protests by the Christian parties to prevent an extension of Parliament’s term. “If no agreement is reached on a new electoral law by May 15, we will resort to democratic means and take to the street to protest an extension of Parliament’s term,” Dib told Al-Jadeed TV.
Aoun’s remarks drew a quick response from Jumblatt, whose parliamentary bloc has rejected all Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil’s hybrid vote law proposals.
“Why is there a misinformation campaign by some authorities?” Jumblatt asked in a series of tweets, clearly referring to Aoun. “There will be no extension [of Parliament’s term] until agreement is reached on a new [vote] law. There is the 1960 law which exists in accordance with the Doha Accord and the Constitution,” the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party added.
Aoun’s suspension of Parliament’s meeting has placed political rivals under heavy pressure to intensify efforts and consultations aimed at ironing out differences over a new vote law.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with several politicians at the Grand Serail, discussing with them ongoing attempts to reach an agreement on a new electoral law. He met with Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh and State Minister for Human Rights Ayman Choucair, both affiliated with Jumblatt’s bloc.
He also met with former Army Rangers regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, Aoun’s son-in-law, with whom he discussed a new vote law.
Voicing support for a proportional vote law, Roukoz said: “An electoral law is essential for the country’s stability.”
Also at the Grand Serial, Bassil, the FPM leader, met with Nader Hariri, chief of Hariri’s staff, as part of their ongoing talks on a new electoral law. Neither spoke to reporters after the meeting.
Hezbollah’s parliamentary Loyalty to the Resistance bloc warned of the “risks” posed by the failure to agree on a new electoral law. It also reiterated its support for a vote law based on full proportional representation.
“The least negative repercussions of the failure to agree on a new electoral law before May 15 are heightening divisions among the Lebanese and putting the country in a complicated deadlock,” the bloc said in a statement after its weekly meeting. “This is in addition to dashing hopes pinned on the possibility of bringing about a national change for the better.”
“The bloc still believes that full-fledged proportionality is the best constitutional formula for the forthcoming [vote] law,” it added.
Lebanon: Electoral Law Debate Deepens as Aoun Rejects Parliament Extension
Youssef Diab/Asharq Al-Awsat/April 21/17/Beirut – The ongoing dispute over a new parliamentary electoral law in Lebanon is creating a real crisis among the rival Lebanese political powers, who have demonstrated that they are incapable of reaching an agreement on a law that enjoys the support of the major blocs. The efforts to resolve this issue have lessened in recent days even as the scheduled May 15 parliamentary session draws near. The session will be held with the sole purpose of extending parliament’s term, which has been repeatedly rejected by President Michel Aoun.
The president reiterated this stance by saying: “No one should dream of the extension or of adopting the old electoral law or that vacuum will take place.”“It is time that we are able to agree on a new electoral law,” he declared. “We succeeded in building national unity and we will work on achieving complete national partnership,” Aoun added. Lebanon last held parliamentary elections in 2009. Since then, parliament twice extended its term after the political powers’ failure to agree on a new electoral law.
Education Minister Marwan Hamadeh questioned cabinet’s failure to convene during this period, asking in a statement: “Why doesn’t it meet in order to deal with the people’s concerns? It can convene while various bodies carry out contacts that can lead to an agreement on a new law.”
Minister of the Displaced Moeen al-Merehbi remarked however that the electoral law dispute cannot be resolved in cabinet.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The government, which represents all political powers, cannot approve an electoral law in one or two sessions because starting the debate from zero could take up to two years.”
“If bilateral, tripartite or quartet talks cannot reach a formula that is approved by all sides, then how can a government devise a new law, whose main articles are still being contested?” he asked.
“The divide is very deep.”
“Parliament’s term is coming to an end. If God forbid we don’t reach vacuum, then we will head from postponement to postponement and from extension to extension,” Merehbi remarked.
The Mustaqbal Movement meanwhile appears to be insistent on distancing itself from internal disputes. Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq stated: “It is important during the dangerous transition period that the region is passing through for us to preserve ourselves on the security and political levels.”He said during a dialogue with the executive board of the Movement: “We hang on to the idea of the state and the continuity of its institutions. We should be open to all electoral laws without exception.”
Kataeb politburo member MP Elie Marouni stated that “saving the constitutional institutions starts with approving an electoral law, because parliament is the mother of all authorities.”“Without parliament, which represents the will of the people, there can be no authorities. We should approve a law that serves the nation and people. It is time for us to unite to save Lebanon before it is too late,” he stressed.
