All parties agree that we need a new election law, but each wants its own

During the relatively short life of contemporary Lebanon, the electoral law has been amended several times. All unanimous in rejecting the law of 1960 and even more those of 2000 and 2005, but actually every denomination wants an electoral law on its extent and this is impossible.

 

Beirut (AsiaNews) - With the approach of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon the issue of having to adopt a new electoral law is back to the fore. Art.42  of the Constitution places a 60-day period to elect a parliament, a term that would run from mid-April until mid-June.

No one wants the power vacuum which yesterday, March 6, the President of the Parliament Nabih Berri  alluded to saying: "I fear that the end of April will arrive without having adopted a new electoral law." The electoral law is now at the center of all the meetings and discussions between the various political forces and religious leaders of the country. Ordinary  citizens struggle to understand the debate and often is content to support one party or another according to sympathy and affiliation. What is urgent is the need to decide whether to go ahead with the Law of 60 (many think it is 60% while in reality 60 stands for the law adopted in 1960) or whether to apply the proportional representation.

During the relatively short life of contemporary Lebanon, the electoral law has been amended several times, made and remade according to the measure of the powers and influences on the ground. This was mainly through the division of constituencies. The 1926 constitution has no mechanism for the legislative elections, nor did it specify the number of deputies. Everything was defined by successive laws, so voters were asked to choose their representative for the Caza (district level) or sometimes more extended constituencies.

The six provinces in Lebanon are administratively divided into 25 Caza (districts) with the sole province of Beirut that has districts.

With the end of the civil war in 1990, when the current president of the Lebanese Republic Gen. Michel Aoun was in exile in France - following his predecessor Amin Gemmayel - and Christians were left leaderless except for the Maronite Patriarch, the Arab states led by Saudi Arabia imposed the national reconciliation agreement known as the Taef agreement. The 1992 electoral law was born from this, which raised the number of deputies from 99 to 128. The division of constituencies according to the 1992 law tried to content everyone and anyone: Bekaa province was divided into three, Mount Lebanon into six, and the southern provinces of the country and Nabatiye grouped into a single constituency. This law was unfavorable to Christians pushed them to boycott the vote.

then came the years of the Syrian Pax. In 1999 the Parliament passed a new electoral law for the 2000 elections, a law now known as the Ghazi Kenan law, the de facto Syrian governor of Lebanon, which divided the country into 14 constituencies. In this law 17 deputies including the late Rafic Hariri, ran for election. This law outrageously divides Beirut (three districts) and the North of Lebanon (in two), a law of inequality and division in order to dissolve the Christian voters amid large majority of Muslim voters. A law tailored to favor the allied forces of Syria, which gave birth to many groups in Parliament, but no majority (so the Hariri majority party, for example counted on only 26 deputies). This law was strongly criticized by Lebanese Christian leaders in exile was applied a second time in 2005, after the withdrawal of Syria, with one change: the two southern districts and Nabatiye were separated.

In 2005 with the Hezbollah opposition, Amal, Aoun's party and the Armenians, won a majority, with 72 deputies out of 128. What is certain is that since 1992 all elections have marginalized Christians. To get an idea of ​​how the divisions foster sectarian imbalances just think that if the law of 1960 was applied Muslims today would get to elect 88 deputies and Christians 42, while if the law of 2000 and 2005 were applied Muslims would get 105 seats and the Christian 23. Thus, the present Parliament that self-renewed its mandate without elections, actually accounts for 41% of Lebanese.

At the present time are all unanimous (especially Aoun's party and the Phalangists and with them the Hezbollah Shiite) in rejecting the 1960 law and even more so those of 2000 and 2005. "Only a law in proportion with the whole country as a single constituency would effectively ensure the equal representation of all Lebanese, of all denominations and ethnic groups " the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah also said in his last speech.

This proposal made by General Aoun and supported widely by the Maronite Patriarchate and Shiite Hezbollah is opposed by the Druze Walid Jumblatt and the Amal Shiite Nabih Berri to which the Sunni groups were also united. However over the past few weeks it would appear that the Sunnis have accepted the proportionate representation provided that Hariri remains as prime minister whatever the results. The law on a proportional basis is a "solution to the Lebanese" as it proportionally combines with the confessional system. The voter must select a list or a list name, the complexity lies in the ballot of the vote which takes place in two stages, first of all defining the minimum number of votes to get a seat and based on this, dividing the total votes with number of seats to get the electoral quota, then in the second stage splitting the votes with electoral quotas to define the seats won by each list. The candidates in the first stage are ranked according to the votes obtained, the distribution is in order to ensure all the seats are allocated to each denomination.

The so-called "orthodox law" (so called because of its signatory orthodox Christian MP Elie Ferzli) that provides for the division of seats in equal numbers between Christians and Muslims is also being disscussed. Christians all grouped vote for Christian candidates, while Muslims would have their 50% of the seats divided between the three confessions Shiites, Sunnis and Druze, and every denomination will vote its candidates. This proposal has apparently been rejected because of divisions.

Meanwhile, among the various proposals submitted by the National Commission in charge of electoral reform there is a project for a mixed electoral system between the majority system and proportional representation, with a woman’s quota of 30%. The bill provides for recourse to the election of a number of deputies with the majority system in the Caza level (districts) and a lower number of Members who would be elected on a proportional basis to the provinces level.

The parties and the Christian Churches insist on lowering the age of voting rights from 21 to 18 years, and also in allowing the vote to the Lebanese diaspora (for the majority of Christian confession).

In fact every denomination wants an electoral law to its own design and this is impossible.

Jibran Basil son of Gen. Aoun and head of Tayyar al Hur party which represents the majority of Christians in Lebanon (Maronite, Melkite and Armenian) said during a celebration took place in Tannurin March 5 that "there is no more pressing priorities the electoral law, "threatening that nothing can move forward in the country without the approval of this law. In the absence of such a law, he argued that there will be a power vacuum and that the President of the Republic will not sign any law that sets forth the 60 "because it respects the people's will."

 The law of 1960 he said "is dead and buried" and will not "rise again." Jibran has also added "we are ready to adopt a comprehensive reform that also regards the creation of a Senate and the adoption of the secular system, however, we will not accept the shadow of rooted confessionalism, as we do not accept that Christians are completely marginalized from the role that is theirs within the system, an indivisible role and that must be integral, so that they are seen as partners to complete and all effects. Only then will Lebanon recover its splendor and its mission".

• Lebanon elections electoral
• law Christians Muslims Druze Hezbollah Amal