Now Lebanon - Charbel to hold press conference on draft electoral law, October 3, 2011

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio that he will hold a press conference this week to address the draft electoral law.“[We] finished the draft electoral law, and a press conference will be held [this] week to announce what was achieved,” Charbel said on Monday.According to Al-Jumhuriya newspaper, Charbel will submit the draft law to President Michel Sleiman later on Monday.Lebanese parties are debating the electoral law for the upcoming 2013 parliamentary elections. After the parliament agreed on drafting a law based on proportional representation, some parties rejected the proposed law and called for adopting the 2009 electoral law, which is based on simple majority representation.The interior minister also said that Wednesday’s cabinet session will not address paying Lebanon’s share of funding to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.The UN-backed tribunal is funded by an assortment of donor countries from around the world as well as Lebanon. However, Hezbollah and other March 8 parties and figures have spoken out against Lebanon’s ties and funding for the tribunal and called it a tool to incite sectarian strife in Lebanon.Lebanon contributes 49 percent of the STL’s annual funding.Four Hezbollah members have been indicted by the STL. However, the Shia group strongly denied the charges and refuses to cooperate with the court.