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Lebanon: Hariri-led Discussions Pave the Way for Deal on Proportional Electoral Law | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Lebanese President Michel Aoun meets with Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Baabda Palace on Tuesday (Dalati & Nohra)


Beirut – Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has apparently succeeded in setting up the basis of an agreement over a new electoral law that would be based on the proportional system.

One week before the scheduled parliamentary session on May 15, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that a consensus could be reached on a proportional electoral law, which was previously rejected by the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM).

In remarks on Tuesday, President Michel Aoun noted that he was seeking an electoral law that restores utmost rights to the Lebanese citizens, adding that the law was “not a sectarian matter.”

Addressing his visitors at the Baabda Palace, Aoun said: “We support an election law that secures fairness and equity.”

He underlined that the new law should not secure gains for one side at the expense of the other.

The Lebanese president stressed, in this regard, the need for conceiving a proportional law with some “limitations”.

Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Aoun was referring to the distribution of electoral districts in a way that preserves the representation of all political parties and confessions.

Also on Tuesday, Aoun met with Hariri in Baabda.

In remarks following the meeting, Hariri said: “No one wants [parliamentary] vacuum, from the president to [Speaker Nabih] Berri, to me.”

“Those who don’t want vacuum need to build on positive [matters] to create a new electoral law,” he added.

The Lebanese premier noted that politicians have reached “common ground” in their efforts to draft a new law for the upcoming parliamentary elections.