Geagea Rejects 1960 Electoral Law: March 14 Camp Will Never Accept Delay of Elections

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted that flaws in representation in parliamentary electoral laws have existed since 1990, reported al-Akhbar newspaper Wednesday.

He told the newspaper: “It is time to rectify the flaw according to the Taif Accord … and we definitely oppose the 1960 law.”

“Discussions are ongoing with our allies and other political powers on the electoral law in order to reach a law that would guarantee fair Christian and Islamic representation,” he remarked.

“We will not back down from our opposition to the 1960 law,” stressed Geagea.

The Mustaqbal bloc and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat have however voiced their support for the 1960 law.

Geagea said: “We have our demands and our allies should take them into consideration.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Hizbullah, and AMAL have voiced their support for proportional representation for the electoral law.

The LF chief implied that the Mustaqbal bloc may be persuaded to change its position on the 1960 law and perhaps even join Aoun in opposing Jumblat’s stance.

He suggested an alternative to the 1960 law such as proportional representation or the adoption of small electoral districts, noting that it would allow fair representation whereby the case in which one MP could garner 10,000 votes, while others could garner 40,000 would end.

Addressing the failed assassination attempt against him on April 4, Geagea remarked: “They will try to kill me again.”

Security incidents will become more severe as the 2013 parliamentary elections draw near, he warned.

He linked the incidents and failed assassination to the other camp’s aim of delaying the parliamentary elections.

“They want to obstruct the polls at any cost. The implicit statements by some of their leaderships and references to regional and international instability are the best sign of their intention,” said the LF chief.

“The March 14 forces will never accept the postponement of the elections. We are keen on respecting constitutional dates,” he added.

Commenting on the recent clashes in the northern city of Tripoli, Geagea stated: “Lebanon is isolated from the developments in Syria even if the clashes were slightly linked to the regional situation.”

“The clashes however can be blamed on the government’s actions,” he noted.

“We condemn the way in which Shadi al-Mawlawi was arrested and we condemn the government’s reaction to it,” he continued.

Islamist Al-Mawlawi was arrested by the General Security Department on Saturday after being lured to one of the offices of Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi’s welfare association in Tripoli.

The development sparked clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, which left nine people dead and at least 50 wounded.

Geagea said that the unrest can be traced back to the ongoing imprisonment of Islamists “who have spent years in prison without trial.”

He declared that the government’s handling of suspects is “unjust”, noting that some individuals, who have been accused of collaborating with Israel, have been released after just two years in jail, while the army was recently attacked in the Bekaa as it was attempting to arrest a suspect.

Retired Brigadier General Fayez Karam, who was accused of collaborating with Israel, was recently released after spending two years in jail.

“We reject the violence in Tripoli, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Mount Lebanon, Baalbek, or any other region,” added Geagea.

“Some sides however are being wrongly accused as being Salafists. The other camp, through its actions, is fueling Salafist sentiments,” he stressed.

“Everyone also has seem to have forgotten a form of extremism that has remained above the law under the excuse of resisting Israel,” he noted.

“We oppose terrorists … and 95 percent of the residents of Tripoli reject them as well,” he continued.

Not a single fundamentalist won a seat in parliament during the 2009 elections, Geagea said.

He instead blamed Syria of trying to portray Lebanon as a country that harbors terrorists, saying that the allegations of the existences of terrorists in the country is being used to cover up other affairs.