BEIRUT: Several civil society groups reacted Friday to the publication of the Cabinet policy statement, and although some welcomed new initiatives, most called for more to be done in their fields.
The Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform welcomed the fact that an entire article of the policy statement was dedicated to parliamentary elections and defined as “one of the government’s priorities.”

But the movement questioned the policy statement’s proposal of launching a “national workshop” to prepare a new law regulating Parliamentary elections, fearing it would be “a waste of time and efforts,” it said in a statement released Friday.
It urged the Cabinet to examine two draft laws authored by the campaign, one on the electoral process the second on establishing an independent committee in charge of organizing elections.

In its statement, the group also called for specific reforms, such as the prompt formation of an independent committee in charge of organizing elections, and ensuring that non-residents vote.
It also urged the Cabinet to reduce the legal voting age to 18 and the minimum age to stand for elections to 22, and to regulate spending and advertising during electoral campaigns.

For its part, the campaign “My nationality is my right and the right of my family” issued a statement that said “women of Lebanon’s share of the policy statement was 1.5 percent” even though they made up more than half of the population.

The campaign accused the government, which unlike previous Cabinets had no female members, of excluding women and depriving them of their rights to equality and to fully participate in social life.
“After excluding women from the government, is the Cabinet policy statement putting women at the bottom of its list of priorities?” the association asked in a statement released Friday.

“With a few, vague words, the ministers of the nation have regaled us with their policy statement, and done us a favor by making promises to women about work and boosting the role of women in public life,” the group said.
“Is the government starting the implementation of its commitments by leaving women outside the Cabinet?” the statement asked. “How can we arrive at social justice for all when we exclude half of society of the decision-making process?”

“How can we enforce national commitments without amending discriminatory laws?” the statement added, urging the government to reform laws on nationality, domestic violence and personal status.
For its part, the Palestinian faction Islamic Jihad criticized the Cabinet for failing to mention “a pledge to work on fulfilling the Palestinian people’s right of return,” after this appeared in the policy statement of Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s government.

A statement by Islamic Jihad said the previous Cabinet’s policy statement had pledged to “launch a political and diplomatic campaign to fulfill this right [of return], consolidate the Lebanese position which rejects the permanent settlement of [Palestinian refugees in Lebanon] and hold the international community responsible for Palestinians not returning home.”

In addition, the statement lamented that, like all previous Cabinets, the new government had failed to bring mention of the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee.
Islamic Jihad said while the policy statement approved working on securing humanitarian and social rights of Palestinian refugees, it evaded any responsibility on the issue and tasked the U.N. Relief and Works Agency with handling them.

“The role of the current Cabinet is to ask only for boosting UNRWA’s budget to enable it to assume its humanitarian role toward the Palestinians as before,” said the statement, pointing out that the policy statement of the previous Cabinet had called upon states and international organizations to assume their full responsibilities toward the refugees and bolster UNRWA’s capabilities.