Now Lebanon - Sleiman calls for adopting Fouad Boutros electoral law, September 29, 2011

President Michel Sleiman called on Thursday for adopting the Fouad Boutros electoral draft law.
“If lebanon wants to correct its political path, the electoral law proposed by the Commission on Electoral Law headed by [former Foreign Affairs and Emigrants] Minister Fouad Boutros must be implemented, amended or not,” Sleiman was quoted by the National News Agency as saying.
Sleiman also said that “the current electoral law had expired.”
The Fouad Boutros law called for many things, among them a proportional representation system with a mixture of caza-based votes and mohafaza-based votes; setting a 30% minimum quota for women on voting lists; lowering the voting age from 21 to 18; allowing registered Lebanese abroad to vote; giving the option of voting near one’s place of residence; counting of votes at the caza-level rather than the village or neighborhood level, which allows less room for vote-buying and pressure to vote certain lists; establishing an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC); restricting campaign finance; and regulating media coverage during electoral campaigns.