Bassil: No Turning Back in LF Ties, Hizbullah Wants to Revise, Not Bin Electoral Law Proposal

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil stressed Wednesday that “there will be no turning back in the relation with the Lebanese Forces,” as he noted that Hizbullah wants to amend and not shelve his latest electoral law proposal.

“There will be no turning back in the relation with the Lebanese Forces and should disagreements happen in some places, they would be healthy disagreements. Together with the LF we are heading towards a strength that gives us a common ability to carry on with our role in the peaceful and civilized coexistence,” Bassil said in an interview on MTV.

Dismissing reports of a dispute with the LF over its latest announcement of its parliamentary candidate for the Batroun district, Bassil added: “I cherish Batroun and I will prove that no one can threaten, blackmail or entice over this seat, because this parliamentary seat in Batroun is similar to the other seats. This is not a message to a specific party but rather to everyone.”

“We have agreed with the LF to have an electoral agreement, but the manner in which this agreement will be made depends on the new law. I have a priority which is that the LF should clinch any parliamentary seat that these scattered individual political forces are currently holding,” Bassil went on to say.

Turning to the electoral law format that he has recently proposed, Bassil said Hizbullah’s leadership has agreed to the proposal and demanded “two changes and a remark.”

“These two changes do not prevent the approval of this law,” Bassil added.

Bassil’s proposal calls for electing 64 MPs according to the proportional representation system and 64 others by their respective sects under a winner-takes-all system.