A Lebanese Fudge (updated)
How do you make an electoral law in a country where powerful groups have strong, opposing viewpoints? Just give every group a little and hope everyone will be happy.
Nobody in Lebanon has a more difficult Job than that of Fouad Boutros. The elderly ex-MP seemed like an odd candidate to be in charge of such an energy-consuming task: That of presiding over the committee for devising a new electoral law for the eternally squabbling Lebanese.
After months of hard work, hundreds of hours of meetings and consultation sessions, Mr. Boutros will finally present his first draft to the government tomorrow (June 1), and the media has already received leaks.
The proposed project is a Frankenstein; if some people have strong views about the small district, and others have strong views about the large one, why not have both? Mr. Boutros seemed to be asking.
The proposed law will keep the total number of MPs to 128. 77 of which will be elected using a winner-takes-all system in small districts (kazaas), and 51 using a proportional system on larger districts (Mouhafazas). Also, in a welcome move, the whole of Lebanon would be voting in the same day.
Will this please everyone? Signs are not promising: George Adwan of the LF has already dismissed the draft, while Ibrahim Kanaan from the FPM has cautiously welcomed it. It remains to be seen how the final form of the law will be. But what is beyond doubt that it will be similar to what Mr. Boutrous presented: A characterless fudge.
Update: According to Annahar, the draft law reduces the suffrage age to 18, allows Lebanese nationals abroad to vote, and forms an independent body to run the elections, in lieu of the much loathed Ministry of Interior. Also, the draft law includes a quota of 30% for women to stand for the elections.
A little bit for everyone indeed. Just don’t get too excited, this draft will only become law after a lot of dilution…
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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.
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Anything in there for us ‘forgotten’ Lebos?
Ahem….the right to vote?
…by forgotten I mean not actually living in Lebanon, carrying our Lebanese I.D. around, dusting it off every once in a while when we travel back home (yes, home), send money to relatives every month back home, and still actually give a shit what direction the country is taking…there are more of us outside than inside.
I like your new Beirutspring Worldcup logo :)
Speaking of which, which team do you support? (i really hope you give the right answer)
S.B
At least we can breathe a sigh of relief that Ghazi Kanaan’s Law is about to enter the dustbin of history. In the end, you can’t satisfy everyone so what is best for the country as a whole is what should be accepted.
Perps,
The update answers your question,
S.B,
I don’t know what you think the right answer is, but I support the Ghanaian team (caught you off gard, didn’t i?)
Omega,
ANYTHING is better than the rustom ghazaleh law, which was designed to reduce hariri’s influence..
Need more details,
but IMHO quotas and lower age are a bad idea.
It is probably to early to comment on the election law now. That said, I find the leaks rather promising and not as negative as some of you are portraying them.
The approach of having 77 MPs elected by majority rule in small districts (Kazaas) and 51 elected via a proportional system on the distric level, can indeed have very positive results. This system, which has been heavily associated with Germany’s election law, can produce MPs that are highly representative of a certain area (Kazaa), thereby conforting minorities that are clustered in smaller regions, while at the same time “forcing” the other 51 MPs to adopt political programmes that appeal to the electorate of a wider region (mohafazaa), if they want to be reelected. The proportional system will also mean that parties that enjoy some level of support all over Lebanon, but that cannot muster a majority in any one district, such as many leftist and secular parties, now have a better chance to enter parliament.
Reducing the voting age to 18 years will finally give the bulk of university students influence in politics, which is both positive (empowering the youth, giving new voices a chance) and negative (many seem to be even more ignorant than their parents).
Very good news would be the granting of the right to vote to Lebanese emigrants. This right could singlehandedly change Lebanese politics to the better, given the diaspora’s education level, heir foreign experience in mostly successful nations and their economic clout.
As for increasing the rate of female MPs (which in itself is welcomed) by a 30% women quota, this will be hard to achieve in one election given the current rate of around 5%.
Mustapha,
Very enlightning entry. Thanks!
But do you mean draft instead of draught? and is it kadaa not kazaa?
I didn’t read the details yet, but it doesn’t sound that bad right now. I have always thought that a mix of proportional and majority was the best solution.
MABROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!!
/me attempting a zaghrouta
[...] Mr. Hariri is right, a lot has changed since 1960s, but neither he, nor Mr. Aoun cared to mention, let alone discuss, its modern alternative; namely, Mr. Fouad Boutros’ progressive proposal. [...]
[...] was commissioned in 2005 but never took off because of the Israeli war, is a modern law which comes closest to fulfilling the two conflicting Lebanese needs of true representation and [...]