Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced Monday that Lebanon would have a new vote law by Wednesday despite remaining obstacles that could unravel the agreement reached by the country’s top leaders to avert a parliamentary vacuum and clear the way for holding the first elections since 2009. He also said that neither he nor the Future Movement would run the elections under the disputed 1960 majoritarian law used in the last parliamentary elections.
Hariri spoke before an important meeting of political rivals was held at his Downtown Beirut residence Monday night in a last-ditch attempt to agree on a final version of the vote law agreement reached by President Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and the premier at Baabda Palace on June 1. The agreement would divide Lebanon into 15 electoral districts, each of which would elect representatives on a proportional basis.
The meeting brought together Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a top political aide to Berri, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, Lebanese Forces’ deputy chief MP George Adwan, and Nader Hariri, Hariri’s chief of staff. As The Daily Star went to press shortly after midnight, no details of the meeting emerged.
Full Article: Hariri sees new vote law by Wednesday despite hurdles | Zawya MENA Edition.
