The Daily Star - House to receive new electoral law in September - August 10, 2011

BEIRUT: Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Tuesday that a new electoral law based on proportional representation for the 2013 parliamentary elections would be presented to Parliament in late September.
Charbel was speaking to reporters following a meeting with Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Naim Hasan.
“We will present an electoral law based on proportional representation, as was stipulated in [the Cabinet’s] policy statement,” Charbel said. “It will be presented in late September for discussion and referred to Parliament, which has the final decision.”
Charbel has formed a committee to draft an electoral law, promising to take into consideration reforms previously put forward.
The Cabinet’s policy statement stipulated that the election law should correspond to the ambitions of the Lebanese to have proportional representation and called for accelerating the process so that the law would be ready at least one year prior to elections.
All elections in Lebanon have so far been held based on a winner-takes-all system, which many blame for inciting sectarian feelings and depriving minorities of representation.
A committee headed by former Foreign Minister Fouad Butros was appointed by the government in 2006 to draft a new electoral law.
Chaired by Butros, the committee released a draft law in 2006 which suggested the drafting of a proportional representational system, among other reforms.
As for the long-awaited appointments to security posts, Charbel stressed that candidate selection would be based on qualifications and not on political association.
Concerning the repercussions of the Arab Spring on the country, Charbel said: “We are satisfied with the security situation [in Lebanon] … but we [Lebanese] are affected positively or negatively by the regional situation and its repercussion will not be easy on Lebanon,” adding that dialogue was the only way to ward off regional repercussions.