Following the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabieh, FPM leader, Minister Gebran Bassil called for the creation of a Senate and stressed on the fact that the members of parliament must truly be representative of their religious communities. He also warned against instability in the country without the approval of a new electoral law.
This is an excerpt of Bassil’s speech:
“- As far as compliance with the National Pact is concerned, the presidential voting battle can not be separated from the parliamentary electoral battle, just as the president is strong, the deputy who wants to represent the Lebanese should also be strong in his community.”
“-The electoral was rejected by several political parties, and was called sectarian and divisive. So we are confronted with an attempt to tarnish our image.”
“- Our only choice to prove them all wrong is to have a new electoral law that can expose the intentions of the other parties.”
“- As of this moment, we are willing to approve a parliamentary electoral law based on full proportional representation and a Senate elected according to the Orthodox Gathering proposal, and this has been our stance since national dialogue.”
“- We are demanding equal power-sharing between Christians and Muslims and we are not encroaching on anyone’s rights.”
“- We are convinced that there can be no stability without a new electoral law and we believe that our representation is not correct ”
“- There is no approval of full proportional representation” in the country, the FPM chief pointed out that “the electoral law requires consensus and a settlement.”
“- We are seeking to restore respect for the National Pact and to correct representation, partnership and our role.”
The FPM leader, Minister Gebran Bassil concluded by reassuring that Lebanon will eventually get a new electoral law and that there will be no return to extending parliament’s term, the controversial 1960 electoral law or parliamentary vacuum.
