Joint Parliamentary committees approved on Tuesday the Orthodox Gathering proposal after discussing electoral drafts.

Joint Parliamentary committees approved on Tuesday the Orthodox Gathering proposal after discussing electoral drafts.

The joint committees of the ministries of Finance, Administrative Affairs, Justice, Defense, Interior, Foreign affairs, Information and Telecommunication resumed the session at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday.

The meeting was attended by Speaker Nabih Berri, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and Justice Minister Chakib Qurtbawi.

Following the vote on the electoral system, ,” Free Patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun announced the approval of the Orthodox Gathering law.

“I want to announce to the Lebanese that democracy has triumphed over intimidation and we have adopted the Orthodox Gathering law,” MP Aoun said.

Meanwhile, the session witnessed a walk-out by the MPs from the Future Movement and Progressive Socialist Party.
The lawmakers withdrew from the talks after a request to delay a vote on the controversial draft was turned down.

"We withdrew from the session after our request to defer the vote on the Orthodox proposal for 48 hours was turned down,” MP Ahmad Fatfat, flanked by his Future Movement colleagues, told reporters after leaving the session.

The Orthodox Gathering draft, which projects Lebanon as a single district wherein each sect elects its own representatives under a proportion representation system, requires a vote at the Parliament’s General Assembly before it can be adopted as a voting system for the upcoming elections.

Earlier on Monday, the joint committees, which included participation by the Future Movement, voted for an article in the Orthodox proposal calling for the number of MPs to be increased from 128 to 134.