President Michel Suleiman called on Thursday for adopting the Fouad Boutros electoral draft law. He condemned the Zionist entity’s decision to build 1,100 new settlements in annexed East Jerusalem as well.

President Michel Suleiman called on Thursday for adopting the Fouad Boutros electoral draft law.

“If Lebanon wants to correct its political path, the electoral law proposed by the Commission on Electoral Law headed by [former Foreign Affairs and Emigrants] Minister Fouad Boutros must be implemented, amended or not,” Suleiman was quoted by the National News Agency as saying.

Suleiman also said that “the current electoral law had expired.”

The Fouad Boutros law called for many things, among them a proportional representation system with a mixture of district-based votes and province-based votes; setting a 30% minimum quota for women on voting lists; lowering the voting age from 21 to 18; allowing registered Lebanese abroad to vote; giving the option of voting near one’s place of residence; counting of votes at the district-level rather than the village or neighborhood level, which allows less room for vote-buying and pressure to vote certain lists; establishing an Independent Electoral Commission (IEC); restricting campaign finance; and regulating media coverage during electoral campaigns.

Moreover, the President also condemned on Thursday the Israeli decision to build 1,100 new homes in Gilo in annexed East Jerusalem, the National News Agency reported.

“Israel’s decision to build 1,100 housing units in [East Jerusalem]… is a blow to efforts [aimed at achieving] peace in the Middle East; [particularly] at this time, when the UN Security Council is looking into the request to recognize Palestine as a full member [at the UN],” Suleiman said.

The president’s condemnation refers to a plan, signed off by Israel's Interior Ministry on Tuesday, to build 1,100 new homes in Gilo in annexed East Jerusalem.

Last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the UN to recognize the state of Palestine as a full member based on the 1967 borders, before the Six-Day war with the Zionist enemy.

According to the report, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams met with Suleiman to bid him farewell.
Suleiman and Williams discussed the situation in South Lebanon, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the UNIFIL’s task.