It seems like Cabinet is well on its way to articulating a policy statement and in doing so will have overcome its first major obstacle.

All that remains is to solve the dilemma of the parliamentary electoral law in the relatively short period available between now and the end of February at the latest.

Parliamentary sources Thursday said that after President Michel Aoun’s first government attains the vote of confidence for the Cabinet, attention will then shift to the issue of the electoral law. The main question then will be how capable the politicians, or rather the sectarian overlords, are at reaching a law that allows for the adequate representation of Lebanon’s myriad social entities.

“Parliament is now facing two and not three solutions: Either discussing the idea suggested by [Speaker] Nabih Berri or remaining with the 1960 law,” the unidentified MP, who is close to the parliamentary committee charged with studying the laws, said.

He stressed that the president will exert substantial effort over politicians to come to an understanding that gives everyone proper representation. He added that such efforts cannot be considered political posturing to accept the situation as it is and to hold elections based on the current law.

In that respect, the same MP pointed to the public commitment undertaken by the entirety of the political spectrum to reject the current 1960 law that the last elections in 2008 were held under.

The political powers that be are now tested, as no single party alone will bear the blame for not issuing a new electoral law. The MP pointed out that the semi-unanimous decision to elect Aoun as president was indicative of politicians’ seriousness in changing the electoral law.

He added that the laws being studied by the Parliament are not accepted by all the powers, including the proposal made by MP Ali Bazzi representing the Development and Liberation bloc, headed by Berri, which is an amalgamation of proportional and winner-takes-all systems.

Yet the MP stressed that some sort of consensus is emerging over the idea proposed, although unofficially, by Berri.

It entails holding parliamentary elections over two stages: The first, along existing districts that paves the way for candidates to run in the enlarged districts or governorates. That way, sectarian representation would take place in the local district, while national representation would take place through the governorates on a proportional basis.

He based this conviction on the fact that all the other suggestions have been deliberated, argued, and modified for years without ever attaining the required consensus that would allow a parliamentary majority in the general assembly to be attained.

The MP revealed that this proposition is being evaluated by Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement and the rest of the parties.

He added that some broad strokes have already been discussed in anticipation of an official announcement after securing the approval of the heads of the parliamentary blocs and proposing it to the general assembly at the end of January.