Berri postpones vote on draft Lebanese electoral law until September 25
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri postponed Tuesday the vote on new draft electoral law for next year”s parliamentary polls to September 25 after the parliamentary majority refused to adopt the new law without further reforms.
As different MPs stated their arguments regarding the electoral law, Berri decided to refer the law to a parliamentary committee that is in charge of discussing the reforms which need to be added to the law.
The Administration and Justice Committee is expected to wrap up the discussions on the reforms in three weeks, after which Parliament is likely to adopt both the law and the reforms in one session.
Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan seemed to be relieved by Berri”s decision as he told reporters that the parliamentary majority has succeeded in not passing the electoral law without the reforms.
Berri opened Tuesday”s Parliament session at 10:30 a.m. with 31 items on its agenda.
March 14 MP Elie Aoun was the first to speak, urging his fellow MPs to mind their language during Parliament sessions and avoid indecent debates.
"Out of respect for ourselves, we should all apologize to the Lebanese people for the indecent debates that took place during earlier session that were designed to grant the new government a vote of confidence," Aoun said.
However, Aoun”s message seemed not to make it to some of his fellow MPs, who exchanged harsh words later during the session.
After Berri decided to leave the electoral law item to the end in a bid to ease the tensions between rival blocs and allow the adoption of other draft proposals, the first debate erupted when Future Movement MP Mohammad Qabbani commented on Monday”s clashes between Future and Amal Movement supporters in the Beirut neighborhood of Ras al-Nabaa which left three people wounded.
Qabbani”s remarks triggered a response from Amal MP Ayoub Homayed before Berri intervened to restore order, reminding both lawmakers of Aoun”s opening comments.
Future MPs Ammar Houri and Ghinwa Jalloul also commented on the Beirut clashes, this time triggering a response by Berri, who said that erecting posters by different parties was a source of tension that needed to be eliminated.
Future MP Ahmad Fatfat said that "not only posters should be eliminated, but also arms."
"Yes, all arms must be eliminated except those dedicated to fighting Israel," the speaker said in response.
Premier Fouad Siniora, who spoke later in the session, said removing banners and posters from the streets of Beirut was a good step toward easing the tensions in the capital.
Siniora also said that the government was satisfied by the efforts made by the Administration and Justice Committee regarding the needed reforms for the new electoral law.
Another debate erupted later in the session between Free Patriotic Movement MP Nabil Nicholas and March 14 lawmaker Antoine Andraous.
Nicholas and Andraous exchanged harsh words after the former accused the parliamentary majority of having bad intentions regarding the new electoral law and urged Berri to test the majority”s intentions by asking Parliament to vote on adopting the law.
In a bid to end the quarrel, Berri adjourned the session.
Earlier during the session, Future MP Bahij Tabbara told Parliament that the phone lines of some lawmakers and ministers were being tapped by "unknown parties."
"I would like to address the Interior and Defense ministries and ask them what needs to be done to end this unacceptable phenomenon," Tabbara said.
In reaction to Tabbara”s remarks, Berri announced that he intended to form a parliamentary committee to investigate phone tapping.
"This is an extremely dangerous issue … a parliamentary committee will be formed with the mission of looking into phone tapping," Berri said.
Bassil also emphasized that tapping the phones of ministers and MPs was "unacceptable" and required an official decision that would prevent any such occurrences in the future.
In a separate development, US State Department official David Hill arrived in Beirut Tuesday on a scheduled visit which will last until the weekend.
Diplomatic sources told the Central News Agency on Tuesday that Hill was scheduled to meet with the different leaders of the March 14 alliance.
Lebanon will also receive Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit on Wednesday and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.
News reports on Tuesday said that Abbas” visit has forced President Michel Sleiman and Siniora to agree on postponing Thursday”s Cabinet session to a later date.