Daily Star - Municipal Elections - January 19th, 2010

BEIRUT: A set of thorny issues will be dealt with during Tuesday’s Cabinet session at the Baabda Palace.
One of the main items on the agenda will be the issue of municipal elections, and the government is expected to issue a final decision on the matter. The Cabinet will also discuss administrative appointments and the issue of Palestinian weapons outside of refugee camps.
Meanwhile, United States Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell is due to arrive in Beirut Tuesday for a two-day visit, during which he will meet with high-ranking Lebanese officials, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.
A draft law on the amendment of the law for municipal elections submitted by Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud is expected to draw controversy at Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
Baroud told LBC television on Monday that he would submit his proposal for the municipal elections to the session. Baroud said his proposal has kept 21 as the legal voting age because the grace period for amending the law has ended.
Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday was quoted as saying he was surprised by the absence of any mention of lowering the voting age to 18.
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar on Monday ruled out radical changes to the electoral law on municipal elections.
“Introducing radical amendments to the municipal law is not possible at the time being given the time element,” Najjar said in an interview with Voice of Lebanon radio station.
He hinted that the current municipal elections law is likely to govern the vote.
Najjar said lowering the voting age to 18 requires a constitutional amendment.
Another issue that might draw debate in the Cabinet is the question of whether to divide Beirut into separate electoral constituencies or to keep the capital as a one district.
While Free Patriotic Movement and Marada ministers favor the first option, Prime Minister Saad Hariri opposes the idea of dividing Beirut.
Future Movement sources told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat that Hariri’s rejection stems from his belief that Beirut should not be divided into three constituencies “because he does not want to take the country backward, but instead he is looking forward to more coexistence among the Lebanese.”
As-Safir newspaper said opposition ministers are expected to meet to decide on a unified stance regarding the draft law on municipal elections and the mechanism for administrative appointments amid divisions on the latter issue.
Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting will decide on the proper mechanisms to conduct the appointments.
The Cabinet might also tackle, outside of its agenda, the issue of the latest remarks made Sunday by Fatah al-Intifada leader Abou Moussa. Abou Moussa said Palestinian armed groups outside camps should not surrender their weapons.
On Monday, the Phalange Party lashed out at Abou Moussa, saying his remarks contradicted what had been agreed upon by Lebanese groups during National Dialogue sessions.
Separately, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt endorsed a suggestion made last week by Speaker Berri and urged the formation of a National Commission for the Abolition of Political Sectarianism, “in line with the Constitution.”
In an article published in the PSP’s Al-Anbaa magazine on Monday, Jumblatt stressed that the commission was supposed to tackle “all of the concerns and fears” of some Lebanese parties.
“The commission will not take nor impose unilateral decisions, but will rather represent a platform for calm discussion over this controversial issue which has been obstructing the advancement of the Lebanese politics,” he said.