MP Samir Franjieh on Tuesday said that the disagreement over Lebanon’s electoral law between the pro-government and opposition alliances on electoral law was “not in form, but in content.”

The adoption of administrative divisions without agreement on electoral reform was an attempt to block the reforms that would guarantee freedom in the 2009 parliamentary elections, the participation of Lebanese expatriates, and possibility of holding elections on one day, Franjieh told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.

Franjieh said the latest contacts on the electoral law indicated the issue would be postponed. “Major Lebanese parties have agreed to the adoption of the 1960 electoral law and are in a hurry to separate the issue of reform from the law, which is unacceptable and disrupts
the Doha Agreement,” he stated.

In response to a reporter’s question on whether a time frame should be set for the completion of reforms, Franjieh replied, "This is the logical solution, and the head of the Administration and Justice Committee has requested three weeks to a month to complete the law.”

“The question is: why this urgency, and why this battle, which is but delusional? Is it to link the adoption of the draft electoral law to Lebanon’s defense strategy? This is the main question today,” he concluded.

-NOW Staff