Lebanon to continue debate on draft electoral law next week

Lebanon's Cabinet agreed Tuesday that it would continue discussion next week of a draft electoral law based on proportional representation. Information Minister Walid Daouk said the Cabinet will meet at Beiteddine Palace Monday to continue debate on the electoral law presented by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel. The decision came following a Cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Baabda, northeast of Beirut, during which ministers failed to agree on all the articles of the draft law. Ministers had failed to approve the law during a session held Monday at Baabda Palace, following which ministerial sources told The Daily Star that the law would likely be approved by a majority vote at Tuesday’s session after being discussed in greater detail. The sources also said that ministers aligned with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt’s parliamentary bloc would probably vote against adopting the law. Jumblatt has repeatedly voiced his objection to a law based on proportional representation, fearing that such a law would diminish his parliamentary bloc. Daouk told reporters following Cabinet's Tuesday meeting that the Cabinet did not put the law to a vote. From:The daily star