Naharnet: Mustaqbal MPs Meet Geagea: For Appeasing All Concerns on Electoral Law

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/27161-mustaqbal-mps-meet-geagea-for-appeasing-all-concerns-on-electoral-law

A Mustaqbal Movement delegation on Thursday held talks with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Maarab on the general situations in the country, “especially the issue of the electoral law,” MP Ahmed Fatfat said after the meeting.

The delegation also comprised MPs Hadi Hbeish and Ziad al-Qaderi. The meeting was attended by LF bloc MPs Georges Adwan and Antoine Zahra.

Fatfat said the meeting was “part of the contacts among the political forces in the March 14 camp and part of efforts exerted by the Mustaqbal Movement committee tasked with following up on the (new) electoral law.”

“We discovered that we have several common principles in this regard, as we all believe in the Taef Accord and the principle of equal power-sharing between Christians and Muslims, and everyone is aware of the legitimate concerns some Lebanese parties have, especially the Christians,” Fatfat added.

“We stressed the importance of coexistence and the need to find an electoral exit which would appease the concerns of all parties and guarantee proper political representation in Lebanon and justice in the distribution of electorates,” the MP said, noting that “the Mustaqbal Movement would only take a decision in coordination with its allies.”

Fatfat said the conferees discussed all the possibilities, noting that meetings would continue “until the March 14 forces reach a common vision in this regard.”

Asked whether the electoral law proposed by the Greek Orthodox Gathering had been shelved, Fatfat ruled out that, noting that “there’s a possibility to adopt it partially or in its entirety.”

But he warned that a parliament produced by such an electoral law would not preserve coexistence among the various communities.

Asked about the proportional representation law proposed by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Fatfat said: “After discussing this proposal extensively at the Phoenicia (Hotel) conference, we found out that it contains several gaps and discrimination in the distribution of the electorates, which means that it does not achieve justice.”

Naharnet: Bkirki Follow-Up Committee Discusses Electoral Law with Suleiman

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/27303-bkirki-follow-up-committee-discusses-electoral-law-with-suleiman

The committee tasked by the Bkirki Maronite Summit to follow up on the issue of drafting a new electoral law stressed Friday during talks with President Michel Suleiman its “keenness on real national partnership among the country’s components.”

It also emphasized its “adherence to coexistence, pluralism and equal power-sharing,” according to a statement it issued after the meeting at the Baabda Palace.

The committee comprises MPs Boutros Harb, Georges Adwan, Alain Aoun and Sami Gemayel, and ex-ministers Youssef Saade and Ziad Baroud.

The envoys briefed the president on the committee’s “approach concerning the new electoral law, stressing the need that this law guarantee proper and effective representation for all the Lebanese components,” the statement said.

On December 16 Maronite leaders gathered in Bkirki stressed the importance of real partnership and equality between Muslims and Christians.

“This issue transcends demographic and political considerations and neglecting it will threaten Lebanon’s national unity,” they said.

“Disregarding it may also pave the way to reconsidering the country’s entire structure,” they added.

This equality should take place through proper representation for Christians and Muslims in parliamentary elections, which has been stressed through the National Reconciliation treaty and each sect’s right to elect its representative, they explained.

Furthermore, the Maronite leaders reached an agreement to form a follow up committee that would launch consultations with all factions in Lebanon based on the “Orthodox meeting, which the gatherers agreed provided a suitable formula that would strengthen Christian-Muslim equality.”

The Orthodox meeting called for each sect to elect its own candidate based on proportional representation during parliamentary elections.

The Maronite meeting was aimed at discussing an electoral law in an attempt to find common grounds between the bickering politicians, in the fourth meeting between them in nine months.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi headed the meeting between Phalange Party chief Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, the head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea, and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh.

Maronite MPs and several bishops also attended the talks that were held at the seat of the church in Bkirki.

Three such meetings had been previously held in April, June and September.

Following its meeting with Suleiman, the follow up committee will hold talks with the rest of the political leaders and forces in the country.

Naharnet:Suleiman Demands Release of Lebanese Fishermen Abducted by Syria in the North

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/27324-suleiman-demands-release-of-lebanese-fishermen-abducted-by-syria-in-the-north

A 16-year-old Lebanese boy was shot and fatally wounded after gunmen opened fire on a fishing boat on the maritime border with Syria on Saturday, his father and a local official told Agence France Presse.

"My wife crossed the border into Syria and has seen his body in the morgue of Bassel Assad hospital" in the coastal city of Tartus, said Ahmad Hamad of his son Maher.

President Michel Suleiman condemned the kidnapping of three Lebanese fishermen after a Syrian fishing boat approached their vessel, opened fire at it, and then took it into Syrian territory.

Suleiman followed up with Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Security Forces leaders, demanding the Syrian authorities to release them immediately.

His stressed the need that the sovereignty of both countries be respected, urging both Lebanon and Syria to reinforce coordination in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

For his part, Miqati condemned the attack on Lebanese fishermen saying that the Lebanese-Syrian coordination committee should swiftly resolve the incident and bring back the kidnapped men.

According to the National News Agency the fishermen will be released on Saturday night as a result of the intensive contacts held between Lebanese and Syrian authorities.

Residents of the border town of al-Arida, where the fishermen come from, consequently blocked the international road leading to Syria by burning tyres in protest over the kidnapping.

MTV said that all border-crossings in northern Lebanon leading to Syria have been closed.

A local official, Ali Assad Khaled, mayor of the town of al-Arida, said brothers Fadi and Khaled Hamad and Maher were seized from their boat off the coast of northern Lebanon.

"Gunmen on another boat opened fire on the three Lebanese before seizing them and taking them off to Syria," he told AFP, adding that the incident was witnessed by other fishermen who insisted it took place in Lebanese waters.

Tensions have been high in recent months along the Lebanese-Syrian border over anti-regime protests taking place in Syria.

The Syrian army had repeatedly infiltrated Lebanese border territories in search of dissidents.

On December 2, 2011, dozens of terrified families fled their homes in Wadi Khaled after shooting from the Syrian side of the border wounded two men and a woman.

In recent months, thousands of people have fled into Lebanon from border districts of Syria as troops have resorted to mounting violence to crush anti-regime protests raging in the neighboring country since March.

The Daily Star: Harb: Still no agreement on election law

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jan-21/160603-harb-still-no-agreement-on-election-law.ashx#axzz1kGurbrPc

By Hussein Dakroub

BEIRUT: Efforts are under way to agree on an election law that can ensure sound parliamentary representation equally divided between Christians and Muslims, March 14 Batroun MP Butros Harb said Friday. “So far, there has been no agreement on a new election law. The search is still going on for the best formula and the best election law that can achieve genuine representation based on an equal division [of parliamentary seats] between Christians and Muslims as provided for in the Taif Accord,” Harb told The Daily Star.

Harb spoke after he and members of an election committee met with President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Palace to discuss a draft election plan for the 2013 parliamentary polls.

In addition to Harb, the committee includes Metn MP Sami Gemayel from the Kataeb Party, Chouf MP George Adwan from the Lebanese Forces, Baabda MP Alain Aoun from the Free Patriotic Movement and former ministers Ziad Baroud and Youssef Saade. While Baroud is independent, Saade belongs to the Marada Movement of Zghorta MP Suleiman Franjieh.

The committee was formed last month following wide-ranging talks sponsored by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai at his seat in Bkirki, during which the four top Maronite leaders – Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel, FPM leader Michel Aoun, LF leader Samir Geagea and Franjieh – endorsed an election proposal made by the Orthodox Gathering, while stressing the need to hold dialogue with other groups on the matter.

The Orthodox Gathering’s proposal called for each sect to elect its own MPs based on proportional representation during the 2013 elections. A statement issued after the Bkirki meeting described the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal as “a valid formula to achieve a just and effective representation.”

However, the Orthodox proposal has drawn fire from officials across the political divide, with some warning that it would deepen sectarianism in the country.

Of the meeting with Sleiman, Harb said: “We expressed our viewpoint, which calls for finding the best election law that can eliminate Christian concerns and ensure genuine representation.” He added that the Maronite leaders and Christian MPs who attended the Bkirki meeting did not adopt the Orthodox Gathering’s election proposal which, he said, aims to allay Christian concerns about sound representation in Parliament.

A political source said the president supported “a modern election law that can represent all segments of the Lebanese population.”

“The president sees that an election law based on proportional representation is one of the options,” the source told The Daily Star.

Minyeh MP Ahmad Fatfat, a Future Movement official, said the March 14 parties would eventually adopt a united stance on an election law. Fatfat said he had discussed all election proposals during his meeting with Geagea the day before. “There won’t be any differences between us. There will be only a joint stance by the LF, the Future Movement and the Kataeb Party on an election law,” he told the Central News Agency.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has rejected the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal, saying it isolates Christians from Muslims.

The row over an election law comes as the government is still debating a new electoral law based on proportional representation.