Speaker Nabih Berri has called on the Parliament Bureau on Wednesday to form the committee charged with drafting a new electoral law within a two-month period, the March 14 alliance was informed according to al Joumhouria daily on Tuesday.
The committee will be charged with drafting the law and to find common factors within the existing laws within a two-month period.
Speaker Nabih Berri hailed the recent stances of Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, noting that they have made “progress” in reaching common positions, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Monday.
He told the daily: “We need a complete agreement, starting with the election of a president.”
The positions of Hariri and Nasrallah are in line with the agenda of the national dialogue, which he is sponsoring, he remarked.
Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri stated on Sunday that he is eager for a solution that meets the will of the Lebanese in a bid to end the vacuum at the top state post.
“We are eagerly waiting for a course that meets the will of the majority of the Lebanese in order to find a solution for the presidential vacuum,” said Hariri via twitter.
“We have always called for setting a road map that primarily begins with an agreement on a president,” he added.
Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged Lebanese factions on Sunday to get rid of the obstacles hampering the election of a president, as he extended condolences over the victims of the Bourj al-Barajneh and Paris bombings that left several dead, the National News Agency said.
“We urge the Christian political forces to seek to remove all the hurdles hampering the election of a president, and to facilitate the process as fast as possible and to agree with the allying political factions on a new electoral law,” said Rahi during the Sunday mass in Bkirki.
El Líbano amaneció hoy en un día de luto nacional tras el atentado que sacudió ayer un feudo del grupo chií Hizbulá en el sur de Beirut y que causó al menos 43 muertos y 239 heridos, según los últimos datos del Ministerio de Sanidad.
Las banderas ondean a media asta en las administraciones y edificios públicos, mientras que escuelas, universidades e institutos técnicos están cerrados tras una decisión tomada en ese sentido por el ministro de Educación, Elias Bu Saab.
Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh stressed Wednesday that what achieves a “victory” for Christians is the approval of a “fair” electoral law, dismissing the legislative settlement that was reached earlier in the day as a “Don Quixotic triumph.”
Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun stressed Tuesday that the electoral law must be put on the agenda of the upcoming legislative session, warning that his bloc will take “strong and decisive measures” Wednesday over the issue.
“The agenda is not limited to financial legislation, contrary to the agreement that we made when we discussed the legislation of necessity,” said Aoun after the bloc's weekly meeting, referring to the legislative session that will be held on Thursday and Friday.
The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement have reiterated their commitment to addressing the parliamentary electoral law above any other article at the upcoming legislative session, reported An Nahar daily on Wednesday.
Sources from the LF told the daily that the two sides will adhere to their “rejection to attend any session that does not have the electoral law on its agenda.”
Prime Minister Tammam Salam is expected to call cabinet to session this week after the plan to end the trash the disposal crisis had reached its final stages, reported An Nahar daily on Tuesday.
Ministerial sources predicted that the premier will convene the session on Wednesday.
He will make the call at the end of the national dialogue session set to be held at parliament on Tuesday.
Divisions have emerged at the national dialogue talks over the characteristics of a new president for the country, reported the daily An Nahar on Monday.
It said that the March 8 and 14 camps are disputed over a president who supports the resistance, Hizbullah, and one who calls for Lebanon to adhere to its policy of disassociation from regional conflicts.
The March 8 camp, led by Hizbullah, is advocating the former, while the March 14 camp is advocating the latter.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam will not step down from his post on Thursday, as media reports have been claiming in recent weeks, reported An Nahar daily on Wednesday.
It said that the premier “will not give up his political mission even if his personal interests lie in resigning.”
“Resignation however will not serve the country's interests, especially since the current government is not one of approving decrees, but one of managing the republic in the absence of a president,” his visitors told An Nahar.
Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement stressed during their twentieth dialogue session on Tuesday the need to activate the work of the paralyzed government and parliament and continue the implementation of the security plan in all regions.
The session was attended by Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq after media reports said he could be replaced by another Mustaqbal representative. The minister had waged a fierce verbal attack on Hizbullah earlier this month, fueling speculation that his relatively good ties had worsened with the rival party.
Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri threw his support Monday behind Prime Minister Tammam Salam while stressing that Mustaqbal will not allow Hizbullah to “undermine dialogue.”
“Any Lebanese cannot but feel insulted by the scenes of the garbage that floated in Beirut's streets and the rest of the regions,” Hariri said in a statement released by his press office.
The parliament bureau held a meeting on Tuesday in an attempt to agree on the agenda of the upcoming legislative session.
Deputy Speaker Farid Makari stated after the meeting however that the concerned forces failed to agree on an agenda.
A new meeting for the bureau will be held next week, he added.
Tuesday's meeting was held at Speaker Nabih Berri's residence of Ain el-Tineh.
It was attended by MPs Marwan Hamadeh, Ahmed Fatfat, Michel Moussa, Antoine Zahra, and Serge Torsarkissian.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam is not ready to resign from his post and expose the country to more vacuum, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Monday.
Sources denied to the daily recent media reports that said that the premier would step down from his position on Thursday due to ongoing political disputes, most notably those on the trash disposal crisis.
“Who will the prime minister hand in his resignation to? Who will accept or reject it? The presidency has been vacant for over a year and a half,” they said.
We Want Accountability civil society demonstrators gathered by the municipality of al-Jdeideh protesting the outspread burning of garbage that has spread in several areas in Lebanon diffusing a toxic stench, the National News Agency said on Friday.
The campaigners gathered by the municipality of al-Jdeideh in al-Bauchrieh
demanding that the municipalities intervene and put an end to this “phenomenon in light of the health hazards as the result of inhaling the toxic smoke and foul smell.”
Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq sought to quell claims that he may not attend the next round of dialogue between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah, saying that such a decision would be his alone and not someone else's, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.
He told the daily: “Patience does not mean surrender.”
“I have waited a whole year to announce a central stance on issues and I hope this is clear,” he said in reference to his recent criticism of Hizbullah.
Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil warned that danger is approaching the “structure of the state” as the parliamentary paralysis and failure to stipulate loans of the World Bank has pushed the latter to issue a warning that it would exclude Lebanon from its aid list, As Safir daily reported on Wednesday.
The presidential elections were postponed on Wednesday for the 30th time following a lack of quorum at parliament.
Speaker Nabih Berri set the new session for November 11.
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