A Tussle Over The Electoral Law

The conversation has moved back to elections. But it has taken the silly form of arguing over a 50-year-old electoral law.

Speaker Nabih Berri is upset. His aids told Alhayat that he had wanted to please Patriarch Sfeir by suggesting the use of the Qaza-based 1960s electoral law, but that he was somehow backstabbed when the Patriarch shot down the idea yesterday. Mr. Berri’s implication is that the Patriarch changed his mind, or that, as his ally Mr. Frangieh likes to postulate, he’s an unreliable old fart who’s under the influence of Saudi petro-dollars and American warships. 

But the Patriarch’s argument makes perfect sense. He’s not arguing against using the small Qaza as electoral district, he’s simply saying that 50 years is a long time, and that many new areas, neighborhoods and districts sprang up after 1960. 
In other words, he wants a modern law that is based on the 1960s law, not the law itself. Mr. Berri should breath a sigh of relief, shouldn’t he?

Not quite. In fact, hell hath no fury like a Nabih Berri scorned; the speaker threw a political tantrum and threatened to go back to the Mouhafaza (medium size district that doesn’t favor Christians). That sounds like an over reaction, but consider this snag: the Taef agreement that March 14 keeps referring to as their golden standard, stipulates just that: Using the Mouhafaza.