BEIRUT: This week promises to be crucial with regard to Cabinet’s endorsement of a new vote law before sending it to Parliament for a final ratification by lawmakers, clearing the way for holding the upcoming parliamentary elections later this year, officials said Sunday. President Michel Aoun is set to hold a Cabinet session at Baabda Palace Wednesday with the deal on a new proportional vote law reached by the country’s top leaders last week being the first item on the agenda.

“Things are moving toward endorsement by the Cabinet of the new electoral law based on proportionality with 15 districts,” Sports and Youth Minister Mohammad Fneish told The Daily Star Sunday.

But Fneish, one of two Hezbollah ministers in Cabinet, said there were still some “sticking points” that needed to be addressed. “But these points are insignificant and do not pose any obstacles to the approval of the new law,” he added.

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk echoed that optimism on the implementation of the agreement reached by Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri before an iftar hosted by the president at Baabda Palace last Thursday.

“A Cabinet session will be held next week to approve the electoral law. This law needs [a delay in elections of] at least six months to carry out its technical and administrative requirements because it is based for the first time on proportionality,” Machnouk said at an iftar hosted by the Islamic Makassed Alumni Association where he represented Hariri.

Machnouk, who has hinted at a technical extension of Parliament’s term for six to seven months to prepare for the implementation of the new law, lauded the proposal as “rational and characterized by great realism,” but warned it “is not fair.

“Fairness in multi-sectarian countries like Lebanon cannot be attained,” he said.

Ahead of the Cabinet session, crucial meetings were held Sunday night in an attempt to iron out remaining wrinkles and ensure a smooth endorsement of the vote law.

Before traveling to the north to attend a Future Movement iftar in the town of Dinniya Sunday, Hariri met at his Beirut Downtown residence with Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil, a top political aide to Berri, Lebanese Forces’ deputy chief MP George Adwan.

Nader Hariri, the premier’s chief of staff, was also present.

Another meeting was also held at Foreign Minister and FPM head Gebran Bassil’s residence bringing Adwan, Nader Hariri, and MP Ibrahim Kenaan from the Free Patriotic Movement.

Berri said that meetings have been stepped up to wrap up the vote law agreement. “We must finish because time is tight,” Berri was quoted as telling visitors at his Ain al-Tineh residence Sunday. He said that Hariri would chair a meeting Monday to accelerate the endorsement of the new vote law.

Berri said he did not support an extension of Parliament’s term for a long period “unless there was a serious tendency to use the magnetic voting card that would ensure a transparency and integrity of the electoral process and prevent bribery and corruption.”Adwan, who has been instrumental in helping hammer out the new law, described Wednesday’s Cabinet session as “crucial” with regard to the law.

“We are seeking to have everything ready [ahead of the session] after eliminating the remaining points,” Adwan told MTV Sunday night.

Referring to the series of meetings, he said: “Work is underway to draft the final version of the vote law and iron out the sticking points.”

Issues such as the percentage each candidates needs to win for an electoral seats in any district, the preferential vote and the duration of a technical extension of Parliament’s term, which expires on June 20, could block the deal.

Culture Minister Ghattas Khoury said after talks with Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea that he hoped the new vote law would come during the Cabinet session.

“We discussed with Geagea the latest political developments, particularly details of the electoral law which all of us hope will see daylight in the near future, especially at the Cabinet session next Wednesday,” said Khoury, who was dispatched by Hariri to meet Geagea.

A source at Baabda Palace said that a semi-final version of the vote law has been drafted and sent to the main political parties to make comments.

“There are two sticking points: The preferential vote and the vote tallying procedures in elections based on proportionality,” the source told The Daily Star. “There is a collective will among all the parties to facilitate the birth of the new electoral law.”

Aoun had paved the way for the new law deal by signing a decree allowing Parliament to convene for an extraordinary session starting from June 7 to 20 to vote on the law to govern the upcoming elections.

Berri Saturday postponed a Parliament session that had been scheduled for Monday until June 12 to discuss details of the vote law and extend the legislative body’s term.

Bassil boasted that the agreement on the proportional vote law to replace the contested 1960 majoritarian system used in the last elections in 2009 was a victory for his party.

“Today, we announce that we have buried the 1960 law and put an end to a [parliamentary] vacuum. What’s more important is that we have crushed an extension [of Parliament’s term]. This is a victory for the FPM,” Bassil said after a walking trip in the Kesrouan district.

He said the former FPM leader, who has become a president, had used his prerogatives to tell Parliament that you have an extraordinary session from June 7 to 20 to forge an electoral law. “We are close to an agreement on an electoral law based on proportionality,” Bassil said, adding that this was not the best law.

Speaking to MTV Sunday night, Kanaan said: “Next week could be decisive with regard to the electoral law. If progress is made on [remaining] details, the electoral law will get priority at the Cabinet session.”

He said that the issue of the preferential vote has been settled in favor of the [province] rather that the [governorate]. He added that discussions continue on the percentage for candidates to win electoral seats in any district and the vote tallying procedures.