Lebanese President calls law reform proposals 'unconstitutional'

President Michel Sleiman denies he is attempting to extend his presidential term Lebanese President Michel Sleiman has sparked controversy calling the proportional representation law put forward by the Orthodox Gathering as “unconstitutional”. The President will ask parliament to form a committee of wise men and legal experts to officially review the proposals’ compatibility with the Lebanese constitution.
Sleiman said: “It is necessary to consider all avenues to reach a consensus on election law, and I think the best solution may be adopting the proposal suggested by the government and modifying it to include both proportional representation and the winner-takes-all systems. We encourage the electoral subcommittee to discuss the proportional representation law.”
“We expect Speaker Nabih Berri to form a constitutional committee to look into the legality of the proposed electoral laws to protect it from challenges that may occur,” added Sleiman.
He said the Orthodox Gathering law is at risk of violating the Constitution as it considers Lebanon as a single electoral district and some details remain unclear.
However the President stressed that extensive consultations and discussions are being held with different parties to reach a consensus on government drafted law.
He denied rumours that he was trying to unilaterally extend his presidential term, stressing that he hoped it would end “in the natural way once his mandate was over”.
On the national dialogue, Sleiman said he did not understand the relationship between demanding to overthrow the prime minister and boycotting dialogue, stressing that the prime minister will participate in the dialogue.
Speaking about the Syrian impasse, he expressed hopes that it would end soon, adding that when he spoke with world leaders, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and international envoys such as Kofi Annan or Lakhdar Brahimi he stressed the need to find a “political solution for Syria without foreign military intervention.”