Lebanese President calls for unity ahead of electoral talks

Free Patriotic Movement: Christians should not be penalised Beirut – Georges Chahine Lebanese President Michel Sleiman has called on parliamentary committees tasked with drafting a new electoral law to place national interests first. Sleiman's appeal comes amid threats of a boycott by Future Movement politicians.
Stressing the need to maintain national unity away from sectaranian or political lines, President Sleiman called on politicians to help form a “modern electoral law that includes fair representation and does not favour anyone at the nation’s expense.”
 Speaking during a plenary session to kickstart reform discussions, Speaker Nabi Berri said: “The further we drift apart, the graver the outcome will be – not only in parliament, but throughout Lebanon.”
Further talks are expected to talk place between February 19-21.
Meetings with parliamentary blocs will also take place on the sidelines, involving former Prime Miniser Fuad Siniora, leader of the Future Movement's parliamentary bloc and deputy Speaker Farid Makari.
Interfactional divisions have also been exposed as parliament moves to discuss Lebanon’s Orthodox Gathering law, the first article of which was read on Monday.
The controversial law would allow Lebanon’s different sects to elect its own lawmakers, in newly organised national constituencies.
Siniora claimed the bill would exacerbate sectarian tensions and violated the Lebanese constitution.
“This bill has tried to resolve a problem but created an even more serious one in the process,” he said.
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) member Ibrahim Kanaan hit back at the new law’s detractors, arguing: "This kind of exaggeration only goes to confirm that some camps have no intention to achieve genuine fairness."
"Christians should not be penalised,” he added.