Hariri Vows There Won’t be a ‘Rift’ with Aoun: Govt. Committed to Finding New Electoral Law

Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced Monday that he has agreed with President Michel Aoun that “there will be no rift from now on at the level of the executive authority.”

“I’m in daily contact with the president to discuss the various issues and problems that Lebanon is facing,” Hariri told a delegation comprising the members of the Supreme Council of the Greek Catholic Community.

Hariri also emphasized that the government is “committed to finding a new electoral law,” noting that “major progress has been made in this direction.”

Earlier in the day, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said “it is too early” to say whether Aoun’s recent stances about the elections would lead to a dispute with Hariri.

Aoun had recently warned that he prefers “vacuum” over holding the parliamentary polls under the 1960 electoral law or another extension of the parliament’s term. He also announced that he might call for a popular referendum should the political forces fail to reach a new electoral law.