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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Berri Warns of 'Coup-Like Situation' as FPM 'Optimistic' on Electoral Law |
| 2017-04-03 |
[An Nahar] Parliament Speaker Nabih KnobbyBerri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... has warned that failure to approve a new electoral law might lead to a "coup-like situation" in the country. "Time is not in anyone's favor and it is unacceptable to wait. The government must immediately shoulder its responsibilities towards the law and to exclusively focus its efforts on it," ad-Diyar newspaper quoted Berri as saying in remarks published Sunday. "It should have discussed it earlier in order not to face pressing deadlines as is the situation today," Berri lamented. He warned that the government's procrastination or failure to pass the law "might lead to a coup-like situation that topples everything." "The first mission today should be to discuss and pass the electoral law," Berri urged. According to reports, intensive contacts will be held after Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. 's return from his foreign trip "in order to put the law on the Cabinet's agenda with the aim of approving it and referring it to parliament." An informed Free Patriotic Movement Despite its name a Christian party allied with Hizbullah, neither free nor particularly patriotic... parliamentary source meanwhile told ad-Diyar that he is optimistic that a new law might be reached within two weeks, noting that "an intensive round of contacts and deliberations will begin next week." "I believe that we have reached the final phase and I do not rule out that the law could be finalized before mid-April. We need a brief time and we are awaiting the responses of some parties who have asked for some time to consult with their allies, and it seems that things are advancing in a positive manner," the source added. The country has not organized parliamentary elections since 2009 and the legislature has instead twice extended its own mandate. The last polls were held under an amended version of the 1960 electoral law. |
| Posted by:Fred |