Lebanon parties sign deal on electoral law

Beirut - It will take at least seven months to prepare for an election

By Reuters

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Published: Tue 13 Jun 2017, 11:06 PM

Last updated: Wed 14 Jun 2017, 1:07 AM

Lebanon's rival parties reached an agreement on Tuesday on an electoral law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said, staving off a political crisis and paving the way for a parliamentary election.

The agreement still needs the approval of the cabinet in a meeting scheduled for today, and will then be sent to parliament.

"Today we have reached a political agreement between the political sides," said Bassil, an ally of President Michel Aoun.

It will take at least seven months to prepare for an election, Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said.

The agreement averts a crisis that had threatened to unravel the political deal that brought Aoun to office last year. Politicians have spent months wrangling over the new law and had a deadline of June 20 to pass it before parliament's term expired. - Reuters


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