BEIRUT: Parliament will only approve a new electoral law once a president is elected, the head of the parliamentary committee studying a new election law said in remarks published Saturday.
“When a president is elected, we will head to the assembly to vote on an election law. This is a commitment,” MP Robert Ghanem told An-Nahar.
“After we approve it, we would shorten the extension period of Parliament to hold the election.”
Ghanem’s remarks come days after the Lebanese Forces said it was suspending its participation the subcommittee until a date was set for a legislative session. Disputes lingered last week during the subcommittee meeting, with electoral districting emerging as the major point of contention.
Ghanem, an independent allied with the March 14 coalition, said that the Lebanese Forces MP said during one of the meetings that his party would vote in favor of a law formulated by the LF, the Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party.
The committee is studying several proposals including a hybrid law presented by Speaker Nabih Berri that combines proportional representation and a winner-takes-all electoral system.
If the committee fails to agree on a single law, the speaker would put all proposed draft laws up for a vote in the legislature only after a new president is chosen, Ghanem said.
“We work on the basis that electing a new president is the priority in parallel with formulating an electoral law,” he said.
The lawmaker said that approving the law without a president would be futile since the person chosen would have to agree to the new system.
“I think the committee will resume its meetings after the holidays if certain circumstances become available, especially given that we are anticipating the dialogue between Hezbollah and Future Movement, which could clear the sky.”
“If we agree on an electoral law and refer it to Parliament, we would have had to wait until a president is elected to implement it."
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