Lebanon bracing for new law application in May elections

A law approved by Lebanon's parliament in June has been described as "a positive step to reform the electoral system."
The law deals with the proportional representation instead of the majority voting system that lasted for decades in the country.

Political forces managed to reach a consensus on the law, which will be implemented for the first time in the country next May. It divides the nation into 15 constituencies, two in Beirut Governorate and 13 others in several districts across the country, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported
Former Parliament Speaker Hussein Al-Husseini said that the proportional representation system is the best if it is implemented properly.
In this regard, the parliament plays a key role since Lebanon is a parliamentary democratic republic in accordance with the constitution, he told the news agency.
The new law will lead to a wide representation of the participating segments, comparing with the plurality voting system, he said.
Proportional representation will produce a majority, which means the government and some opposition, indicating this will allow the separation of powers and the provision of opportunities for new forces to get seats in the parliament.
Secretary General of Lebanese Forces Party Chantal Sarkis told KUNA that the new law would pave the way for different representation of all segments and achieve more justice for voters.
Technical details of the law will not affect voting as each voter will choose one of the competing lists and will be entitled to cast one preferential vote for a candidate of the same list he had chosen.
She indicated that there are big difficulties in terms of issuing biometric IDs before holding the scheduled elections in May and called for using the current elections IDs.
Omar Kabboul, executive director of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections, told KUNA that the new law may make changes in some constituencies through the success of candidates who are not affiliated with the traditional parties.
He called for using the current IDs to hold elections as planned and not wait for the issuance of biometric ones, explaining that "there is not enough time to issue about 3.8 million IDs before the polls."
Candidates will form lists at least 40 days prior to Election Day and they will have to comply with the seat allocation to electoral constituencies, as well as with their confessional and religious distribution.
The number of seats won by each list will be determined based on the electoral quotient.
The remaining vacant seats will be allocated to the lists that obtained the highest number of votes left

Source: BNA