The Parliamentary Communications Committee adjourned on Friday its meeting until Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
Earlier, the Committee resumed at 6:00 p.m its meeting to discuss electoral draft laws under the chairmanship of Speaker Nabih Berri.
Following the meeting, Lebanese deputies held a press conference whereby
Future bloc MP Ahmad Fatfat said that the Orthodox Gathering draft law and the 1960 electoral law are rejected, noting that the hybrid draft law is the only solution.
“We will keep on supporting the
hybrid draft law. In fact, we are submitting a proposal to establish genuine
national relations,” MP Fatfat added.
“We support the extension of the
parliament’s mandate for technical reasons within a delay of 5 months,” Fatfat
said.
For his part, Lebanese Forces MP
Georges Adwan said that Speaker Berri does not intend to submit any draft law
unless it is unanimously agreed upon, noting that the parliamentary elections
will not be held based on the 1960 electoral law.
“We will work to broker a
settlement and we are adamant on guaranteeing apt representation,” MP Adwan
added.
In this regard, Kataeb Party's
Central Committee Coordinator MP Sami Gemayel said: “We are keen on preserving
democracy and we refuse to hold the parliamentary elections based on the 1960
electoral law”.
“We hope to set standards on
Saturday and let the people decide,” Gemayel added.
As for the Loyalty to the
Resistance Bloc MP Ali Fayyad, he said that most of the amendments to the draft
law submitted by Speaker Berri were not taken into account, and said: “We think
that the Future bloc should have discussed the said proposal”.
As well, Change and Reform bloc
MP Alain Aoun pointed out that “the hybrid draft law is based on unclear
standards, which hurdles discussions”.
“We are trying to avoid the 1960
electoral law and the extension of the parliament’s mandate,” MP Aoun said.
For his part, Change and Reform
bloc MP Hagop Pakradounian stated that “there is no return to the 1960
electoral law while the hybrid draft law is unanimously agreed upon”, adding
that he supports the apt representation of Christians.
Earlier, Speaker
Berri said that he does not have any intention to extend the mandate
of parliament, noting that "no session will be held unless consensus is
reached".
Berri added that “the
extension after May 31 requires an extraordinary parliamentary session that
should be signed by President Michel Sleiman and Caretaker Prime Minister Najib
Mikati”, pointing out that he asked the Lebanese parties to discuss the aforementioned
issue with their leaders.
Speaker Berri also said that the electoral
law he proposed was rejected, noting that he will hold further consultations to
discuss the draft law submitted by the Lebanese Forces bloc and the Progressive
Socialist Party.
In this regard, Berri noted that “Lebanon is
divided into two camps: the first one supports the 1960 electoral law and the
second backs the Orthodox Gathering draft law.
Earlier in the day, the said Committee convened, under the
chairmanship of Speaker Nabih Berri, in a session dedicated to continue discussions regarding the hybrid electoral draft law.
On the other hand,
sources suggest that the item pertaining to the extension of the Parliament’s
term may return to the forefront, should the political parties fail to reach
consensus over a new electoral law.
Prior to the session,
caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil stressed that reaching an agreement
over a new electoral law is among their priorities, noting that the extension
is “out of question”.
For his part, member of the Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine
Zahra stressed that the LF party is working hard in order to reach agreement
over a new electoral law based on the hybrid formula, noting that the campaign
launched against the LF aims at “politically abolishing the party”.
During a press conference held at al-Nejmeh Square, Zahra
said they are seeking to prevent the 1960 law from being readopted.
In turn, MP Sami Gemayel said that the adoption of 1960 law
is a “four-year extension to the Parliament’s mandate”, warning against falling
into political void.
MP Ali Fayyad said that, if they fail to reach
agreement over the electoral draft law, the evening session will be dedicated
to find means to prevent a political void.
Meanwhile, MP George Adwan refused to allow the country to
be dragged into political void, ruling out any possibility of accepting the adoption
of 1960 electoral law.