Daoud Rammal, 'Akhbar al-Yawm" agency

With Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri signing the law to amend the law on the election of parliament members, and referring it to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers with a hasty issuance in accordance with the first paragraph of Article 56 of the Constitution, this law entered, and even the fate of the elections, a fate that may be unknown.

According to a constitutional expert, "this law, which will pass from the Grand Serail to Baabda, will have fundamental constitutional pitfalls in front of its enforcement, after the main reform articles most notably:

First: The overthrow of the Mega Center, which has become a modern and advanced need and demand for voters who live outside their places of registration, and a step towards transparency, credibility, and cleanliness of elections away from external influences. This is considered an advanced and major reform step in the field of elections.

Second: Repealing Article 84 of the current electoral law related to the magnetic electoral card, which states the following: “In the upcoming electoral process, the government, by a two-thirds majority decision in the Council of Ministers, based on a proposal by the Minister, must take the measures leading to the adoption of the magnetic electronic card in the electoral process.”

Third: The overthrow of Article 122, which stipulates that “six seats for non-residents shall be added to the number of members of the House of Representatives to become 134 members in the electoral cycle that follows the first electoral term that will be conducted in accordance with this law. In the following term, six seats shall be reduced from the number of 128 members of Parliament Of the same sects that were allocated to non-residents in Article 112 of this law, by a decree taken in the Council of Ministers based on the minister’s proposal.” The six seats are allocated to the Maronite, Orthodox, Catholic, Sunni, Shiite and sects, equally among the six continents.

The expert clarifies that “the rounding of the election date from May to March has no constitutional, legal or practical justification, and its aim is purely political, and it is to mobilize the opposition forces of the political class that has held the reins of power for thirty years, and prevent them from investing on the time factor that extends for a month and a half.” The additional time for arranging their conditions at the level of electoral machines, alliances, and the formation of lists, while the forces of power are on a prior readiness."

The same source expects that "with the arrival of the law to the Presidency of the Republic, it is obvious that the President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, will subject it to study, with reference to the opinions of legal experts, in order to build on what is required, as it is the responsibility of the President of the Republic to conform the law to the Constitution and to demonstrate the strength of the compelling reasons that necessitated fundamental amendments to the electoral law and why all this delay occurred in deciding the law and keeping it until the last moment before entering the deadline for the elections, as the President of the Republic has the right to return it to the House of Representatives within a month, just as any parliamentary bloc or group of deputies has the right to challenge the law before the Constitutional Council.

The source asks, “Is the aim of introducing the amendments to the law, especially those that overthrew the basic reform provisions that prevent fraud, is a prelude to overthrowing the elections from their foundation?” And he answers by saying, “The motive for this question is all the data that was formed about that the main forces do not want the elections, but the extension of the current parliament is for two main reasons: the first is the erosion of popular support for it, and the second is the completion of the presidential elections with the current parliamentary balances.