Bkirki Maronite Summit: Orthodox Meeting Proposals Ensure Christian-Muslim Equality in Elections
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Maronite leaders meeting in Bkirki stressed on Friday the importance of real partnership and equality between Muslims and Christians.
They said in a statement: “This issue transcends demographic and political considerations and neglecting it will threaten Lebanon’s national unity.”
“Disregarding it may also pave the way to reconsidering the country’s entire structure,” they added.
This equality should take place through the Christians and Muslims proper representation in parliamentary elections, which has been stressed through the National Reconciliation treaty and each sect’s right to elect its representative, they explained.
Furthermore, the Maronite leaders reached an agreement to form a follow up committee that would launch consultations with all factions in Lebanon based on the “Orthodox meeting, which the gatherers agreed provided a suitable formula that would strengthen Christian-Muslim equality.”
The Orthodox meeting called for each sect to elect its own candidate based on proportional representation during parliamentary elections.
The Maronite meeting was aimed at discussing an electoral law in an attempt to find common grounds between the bickering politicians, in the fourth meeting between them in nine months.
Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi headed the meeting between Phalange Party chief Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, the head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea, and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh.
Maronite MPs and several bishops also attended the talks that were held at the seat of the church on Friday morning.
Three such meetings have been previously held in April, June and September.
An Nahar daily said that a four-member committee, that includes MPs Georges Adwan, Alain Aoun and Sami Gemayel and former Minister Youssef Saadeh, has prepared a report on the election law.
The committee’s members told the newspaper they have so far held more than ten meetings, in which church representatives and experts have taken part.
They stressed that the different Maronite factions have reached agreement on some issues in the electoral law while they have disagreed on others.
16 December 2011, 19:41
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Why don't guilty secrets get published? Why don't these committee members admit that what they call "equality" is that a Christian's vote gets twice as much effect as a Muslim's vote? Well, if they were published, they couldn't be guilty secrets. One Muslim "man", one vote. One Christian "man", two votes. And they call this a structure of a state? If their science is this crooked, what is their religion like?
16 December 2011, 21:31
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Hopefully one day Lebanon will become healthy enough to eliminate political sectarianism.
Till then those who claim the protection of each sect will keep presenting themselves, despite all their defects, as the sole leaders for life.
I, as a chrsitian do not mind what the confession of the president is as long as he or she have the qualifications and do believes in promoting freedom and equality and have no allegiances beyond the lebanese borders.
16 December 2011, 22:50
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Move aside everybody chrisrushlau thinks he can have a say and an opinion of how we should run our country.
The little hypocrite thinks majority should rule in Lebanon but not in Syria. He subscribes to the Muqtada al-Sadr school of double faced fraudulent deception were a political system is fine as long as the despot in charge of it is anti West he can even murder as many of his citizens as he wishes.
