Daily Star - Ministers Hold Heated Debate On Proposed Reforms To Electoral Law

BEIRUT: A heated debate emerged between Cabinet members Friday concerning proposed reforms to the municipal electoral law, with late-night discussions seemingly hitting a dead end by the time The Daily Star went to press. Well-informed sources said the Cabinet agreed to extend the contracts of both operators of the state-owned mobile phone networks, MTC Touch and Alfa, for an additional year.
The source added that the agreement was reached following a “long argument” between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas. Alfa and MTC Touch have managed both networks since 2004.
Prior to the Cabinet meeting, Hariri held closed-door talks with President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Presidential palace.
Tackling the municipal elections, media reports said Friday that the polls would most likely be held within the legal deadline but without any major amendments to the current law.
The reports added that the Cabinet would probably ask to refer the controversial draft law to Parliament so it could debate a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age to 18.
Other controversial amendments to the election law include the direct election of mayors and the adoption of proportional representation.
Christian parties have tied lowering the voting age to passing a law allowing people from Lebanese origin to retrieve their nationality The Future Movement sided with its allies in the majority, insisting that the issue required a national consensus.
Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said on Friday parties of the March 14 alliance had proven their solidarity beyond religious considerations when they took a united stance on the formation of a committee to abolish political sectarianism and lower the voting age.
Earlier Friday, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud and Foreign Minister Ali Shami had agreed to hold a meeting Thursday to discuss an executive procedure allowing Lebanese expatriates to vote abroad. The statement added that both ministers were committed to implementing the procedure within the six-month legal deadline.
Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun said Friday that his party’s demand to divide Beirut into three districts was not aimed against the Future Movement but rather to guarantee just representation.
The Future Movement opposes the division of the capital.
“The division of Beirut is not aimed against the Future Movement since no one can predict the result of the elections,” Aoun said, pointing to the outcome of polls in the Beirut III district after the division of the capital in accordance with the Doha Accord.
The FPM demanded during negotiations in Doha the division of Beirut into three districts to guarantee a Christian majority of voters in the third district. The previous electoral law guaranteed a Sunni majority of voters in the capital.
Aoun also stressed the need to hold the elections within the legal deadline while tying the issue of lowering the voting age to passing a law granting people from Lebanese origins the right to retrieve their nationality.