BEIRUT: There is never a dull day in the electoral law debacle as the issue was further complicated Monday after Speaker Nabih Berri said that Parliament would press on with regular sessions beyond the end of the legislative period. During a rare news conference from his residence in Ain al-Tineh, Berri said Parliament could hold regular session beyond May 31.

The speaker’s move seems to be aimed at President Michel Aoun’s efforts to link any extraordinary session of Parliament solely to the approval of a new vote law.

As it stands, Aoun needed to sign the decree issued by Prime Minister Saad Hariri for an extraordinary session to take effect, yet Berri’s statements cast doubt on the calculation.

Citing jurisprudence by French Constitutional experts, Berri claimed that since Aoun had used his prerogative under Article 59 of the Constitution in April and delayed Parliament’s session for a month, then that current legislative period would extend to make up the lost time.

“President Aoun used his prerogatives to delay a parliamentary session. It was the first time since independence,” Berri said. “Parliament has the right to continue its period after its suspension as normal.”

At the time of the delay, Aoun was attempting to head off a major political crisis as the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb Party staunchly opposed any extension of Parliament’s mandate, the item which would have been put to vote had Parliament convened on April 15.

“I called Prime Minister Saad Hariri and informed him, and the premier later called me and said he had sent Aoun a decree to open an extraordinary parliamentary cycle,” Berri said. “But I never received it,” he added as he explained the reason behind the decision. The Lebanese Parliament normally convenes for two ordinary cycles from mid-March till the end of May and from mid-October through the end of December.

The speaker said that if the delay was to press the Parliament “as rumored,” then he would be “glad to inform them that no one can pressure it but the Lebanese people.”

But Berri added that he would seek to agree with Aoun on the timing of the session, stressing that there was no rift between him and the president.

“[I am] keen to drift away from the 1960 [majoritarian vote law], extension, vacuum and any other form of sectarian vote laws,” Berri added.

He also dismissed media reports claiming he had rejected Lebanese Forces deputy chief MP George Adwan’s recent proposal.

He described Adwan’s proposal, which calls for the adoption of a proportional voting system based on 15 districts, as “acceptable.”

“It’s known as the Bkirki law and was proposed initially by [former Interior Minister] Marwan Charbel, I rejected it at the time,” Berri said, adding that he had reversed his decision after certain considerations came to light.

Adwan’s proposal also included moving Maronite seats from areas that have Muslim majority as follows: from Tripoli to Batroun, Western Bekaa to Jbeil and Baalbeck to Bsharri, a clause that Berri has completely rejected.

“If we want an agreement, this [article] should be scrapped,” Berri said, adding that he was waiting for a final stance from the Free Patriotic Movement over the matter.

Throughout an iftar dinner hosted by Hariri Monday evening, that included senior political and religious officials, including Berri, the PM reiterated the speaker’s sentiments but made no mention of the contentious article calling for the shifting of MPs’ seats.

“I am completely aware that going back to the 1960 law or extension [of Parliament’s mandate] will represent a loss for all of us in the face of our popular bases,” Hariri said. “[It] represents a political decay that is neither in our interest nor in the interest of the country.”

Hariri made it a point to salute Berri, who he said “bears witness to my statements,” adding that they both share a common goal: a new, modern, electoral law.

“So that we are clear: when I say we will reach an electoral law, that means we will reach an electoral law because failure is not allowed,” the premier added. “We have to get to an electoral law and that is what we will achieve, and then you will see how the country will rise.”

Parliamentary sources following up with electoral law developments hinted that with several elements now in place a consensus could finally emerge.

The sources pointed to statements by Berri that there was a possibility of reaching an electoral law, yet stressed talks remain marred by the refusal to shift seats from one district to another, a point that two key parties claiming Christian representation insist on.

Aoun refrained from responding to Berri’s media conference, as one source indicated that Parliament’s extraordinary session is not actually the central issue at hand.

As proof, the source pointed to Aoun’s statements several days ago in which he said that discussion in Parliament over the nature of the electoral law would continue until June 20.

It appears that the president is attempting to avoid a legal and constitutional confrontation with Berri, as evidenced by his near silence following Berri’s news conference.

“We hope to give the Lebanese good news that the electoral law is completed before the end of Parliament’s term on June 20,” Aoun said, the summation of his statements during the day.

Despite agreement on the prospective law’s broad strokes, Aoun still maintains what he says are reservations, regarding the preferential vote.

Officials are currently split, as no agreement has been made on whether the preferential vote would be applied on the district or the governorate. Similarly, politicians cannot agree on whether the public should be afforded one or two preferential votes.

While the issue of seat shifting seems to be faltering despite the fact that Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement considers the shifting of electoral seats an integral aspect of a new proposal.

A source, toeing the FPM’s line, justified the desire to shift Christian seats from Muslim majority districts.

The source claimed that the seats themselves were added during Syrian occupation of Lebanon to appease the Syrian regime’s supporters in the country and did not reflect the reality whatsoever.

As a solution to the latest sticking point causing political deadlock, some are now suggesting that Parliament should be reduced in size to the 108 lawmakers under the immediate post-Taif accord period, whereby the seats assigned under Syria’s decades-long occupation of Lebanon would be no more.

Late Monday evening, local media reported that FPM head Gebran Bassil, Change and Reform Bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan and Adwan met to discuss vote law developments. No other details were reported.