March 14 MP Ammar Houri told MTV on Saturday that proportional representation was impossible in Lebanon amid Hezbollah’s controversial military arsenal.
“ An electoral law centered around proportionality is a fine voting system for a stable society,” Houri said.
“ But currently it has no place in Lebanon as long as illegitimate weapons – like Hezbollah’s arms – are present,” the lawmaker added
Houri also told MTV that considering the “sharp political schism” on the Lebanese political scene, small electoral constituencies “are the preferable solution,” in reference to the proposal on electoral law to be adopted in the 2013 parliamentary.
The MP who is a key member of the Future Movement parliamentary bloc added that his group supported an electoral draft law presented by March 14 Christian parties on Thursday , which is based on 50 small electoral districts.
Lebanon’s Cabinet approved earlier in August a new electoral draft law that called for proportional representation and divided the country into 13 districts.
Lebanon was divided into the following electoral districts:
Beirut 2, south Lebanon 2, Bekaa 3, north Lebanon 3 , Mount Lebanon 3.
The new electoral law was approved by the majority of ministers, including the FPM ministers . The ministers that represent Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt’s bloc voted against it.
MP Alain Aoun along with FPM MP Neemtallah Abi Nasr also submitted another draft electoral law . This is the so called “Greek Orthodox gathering proposal” which calls on each sect in Lebanon to vote only for its candidate in the elections based on proportional representation and one electoral district for the whole country .
March 14 b Christian MPs Georges Adwan, Boutros Harb and Sami Gemayel submitted a draft electoral law based on 50 districts and winner take all majority to the Parliament’s General Secretariat on Thursday morning, according to LBCI.
Jumblatt and his PSP MPs favor the current 1960 electoral law.
“If there was no new election law, there is the one currently present and we can hold polls based on it,” Public Works and Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi, a key member of Jumblatt’s parliamentary bloc, said Thursday in response to the draft proposal submitted by March 14 Christian MPs
The Joint Parliamentary Committees held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the proportionality-based electoral draft law ratified by the cabinet, in addition to other electoral law proposals submitted by some parliamentary blocs.
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