LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 27/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 23,23-26. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. (But) these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.

Saint John Eudes (1601-1680), priest, preacher, Founder of religious Insitutes
Adorable Heart, ch.12/"Cleanse first the inside"
O my God, how wonderful is your love for us! You are infinitely worthy of being loved, praised and glorified! We are without either heart or spirit sufficient to this but your wisdom and goodness have given us the means to do so. For you have given us your Son's Spirit and heart to become our own spirit and heart as you promised us through your prophet: «I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you» (Ez 36,26). And that we might know what this new heart and new spirit are, you added: «I will put my spirit,» namely my heart, «within you» (v.27). Only the Spirit and heart of a God could be worthy of loving and praising God, able to bless and love him according to his measure. That is why you have given us your heart, the heart of Jesus, your Son, as well as the hearts of his divine mother and all the saints and angels who, together, make a single heart just as the head and members make a single body (Eph 4,16)...
So, my brothers, set aside your own heart, your own spirit, your own will, your own self-esteem. Give yourselves to Jesus so that you can enter into the depths of his heart, containing that of his mother and all the saints, and lose yourselves in that abyss of love, humility and patience. If you love your neighbour and have an act of charity to perform, love him and act towards him as you ought to do from within the heart of Jesus. If it is a case of humbling yourselves, let it be with the humility of that heart. If you should praise, adore and give thanks to God, let it be in union with the adoration, praise and thanksgiving bestowed on us through that great heart... Whatever you do, do all things in the spirit of this heart, renouncing your own and giving yourselves to Jesus so that you may act in the Spirit that animates his heart.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
The danger of viewing Syria through the prism of Lebanon-Daily Star 26/08/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 26/08
Berri postpones vote on draft Lebanese electoral law until ...Daily Star - Lebanon
Sunni clerics urge agreement on national defense strategy-Daily Star
Three People Wounded in Ras Nabaa Violence-Naharnet
Jumblat: The Whole State of Lebanon Would Confront Israel-Naharnet
Suleiman for Qatar Next Week-Naharnet
Race Between Electoral Constituencies and Election Reforms-Naharnet
Cabinet's Weekly Session Postponed-Naharnet
Kouchner Launches New Era of Lebanese-Syrian Relations, Ambassadors This Year-Naharnet
Lebanese Self-Proclaimed Prophet Lands in Saudi Jail-Naharnet
Fatfat: No Constituencies without Reforms-Naharnet
Geagea to Kouchner: Progress with Syria Not Encouraging-Naharnet
Miqati: No Need to Rush Adoption of Parliamentary Constituencies-Naharnet
Syria-Israel talks focused on border: Moualem-Reuters
Saniora Responds to Aoun-Naharnet
UNIFIL: Extensive smuggling continues on Lebanon-Syria border-Ha'aretz
Siniora says all parties committed to adopting electoral law inked in Doha-Daily Star
Jumblatt says Israel is serious threat to United Nations Resolution 1701-Daily Star
Group campaigning for electoral reform to open doors to public-Daily Star
Italy funds new olive mill, generator in southern town-Daily Star
Australia launches mobile dispensary in Bekaa Valley-Daily Star
McCain adviser accuses Syria of Hariri killing, slams Hizbullah-Daily Star
Shin Bet demands UN troops act 'more firmly against Hizbullah-Daily Star
In wake of deadly bus bombing, Tripoli residents remain on edge-Daily Star
France, Syria launch ”new era of relations”-Al-Bawaba
UN troops offer lessons in peace in Lebanon-Los Angeles Times

McCain adviser accuses Syria of Hariri killing, slams Hizbullah
By The Daily Star -Tuesday, August 26, 2008
BEIRUT: US Republican presidential candidate John McCain's campaign adviser has accused Syria of involvement in former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination. Robert McFarlane also said Hizbullah put itself on the terror list last May when the party's gunmen took over swathes of West Beirut following government moves to dismantle its private communications network and sack a Shiite security official at the Beirut airport. The reports of UN investigators revealed Syria's involvement in the "heinous crime" in 2005, McFarlane told Al-Mustaqbal daily in remarks published Monday. McFarlane, who was National Security Adviser to US President Ronald Reagan, also stressed the importance of the international community bringing the culprits to justice. - The Daily Star

Shin Bet demands UN troops act 'more firmly against Hizbullah'
By The Daily Star -Compiled by Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Israel's national security agency Shin Bet has demanded that the Israeli government start talks with the United Nations aimed at expanding the role of UN peacekeeping troops serving in Lebanon to work "more firmly against Hizbullah," according to a report published in the Israeli daily Haaretz on monday.
The Shin Bet has also called on the Israeli government to support the extension of UNIFIL's mandate for one more year "because there is no better alternative than that."Haaretz said Shin Bet's appeal came despite Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's criticisms of UNIFIL.
"South Lebanon has been turned into an arena for Hizbullah activities," Shin Bet said.
The UN Security Council is expected to hold a meeting on August 31, when members will vote on extending the UNIFIL mandate.
In an interview with An-Nahar daily published on Friday, the UN secretary general's associate spokesperson Farhan Haq said a new resolution concerning UNIFIL go to a vote on August 27. According to Haq, UN chief Ban Ki-moon addressed a letter to the Security Council president on Thursday, "recommending the extension of the UNIFIL mandate until August 31, 2009."
As the UNIFIL mandate comes up for renewal, tensions between Lebanon and Israel have been escalating with a mounting war of words between the two sides.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah vowed on Sunday to destroy Israel if it carries out threats to hit Lebanon.
He was responding to recent warnings by Israeli leaders that Lebanon's civilian infrastructure could become a legitimate target following the formation of a unity government in which the Hizbullah-led opposition has 11 ministries and the power of veto over cabinet decisions.
"If a war were to happen as they are threatening, our victory this time will be decisive, unquestionable and final," Nasrallah said in a televised address marking the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Hizbullah-sponsored Al-Mahdi Scouts.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora also complained about the Israeli threats in a letter to the UN secretary general dated Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had warned last week that Israel would fight a far more devastating campaign than in the 2006 war on Lebanon if the resistance movement led the government. Other leaders made similar threats.
The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon during the 2006 war centered mostly on southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, but the military did hit civilian infrastructure, including the main international airport, roads, factories, bridges and a power station.
Israel has claimed that such instances were exceptions to an attack that was solely focused on Hizbullah and was initially aimed only at recovering two Israeli soldiers seized in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12, 2006. The soldiers' bodies were returned in a prisoner swap. - The Daily Star with agencies

France, Syria launch ”new era of relations”
25-08-2008 , Albawaba/French Foreign Minister Bernard Koucher declared in Damascus the launching of a "new era of relations between Syria and Lebanon" saying the two sides would exchange ambassadors before the end of this year. Kouchner, who met Syrian President Bashar Assad after visiting Lebanon, told reporters, "We have observed progress in Lebanon … today we launch a new era of relations between Syria and Lebanon."
According to AFP, Kouchner said he talked with Assad ON Lebanon-related topics, including the "situation in Tripoli … which could become serious and explode." "There also is the problem of Hizbullah … and the problem of statements be they from the Israeli side or the Lebanese side … but I believe that the situation is better in Lebanon," Kouchner conveyed.
According to him, these issues would be discussed by Assad and French President Nicolas Sarkozy early next month. "We were not with Syria in the past, we were keen on the Lebanese People … all that we have spoken of has been achieved, that is why we set up this relation with Syria," the French minister added.
Kouchner said his talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem focused on the "situation in Iraq, Iran and peace in the Middle East." "I congratulate Syria for its talks with Israel in Turkey," He declared. On his part, the Syrian minister said the indirect peace talks are focused on the thorny issue of how much Syrian territory is under Israeli occupation. Muallem said the two sides were seeking agreement on land Syria controlled before Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 war.
"We feel that the two sides are serious about solving the lingering issues that are being discussed. Foremost is determination of the June 4, 1967 line," Muallem told reporters after meeting Kouchner. © 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

UNIFIL slams Lebanon, Syria for allowing smuggling through porous border
By Barak Ravid and Yoav Stern-Haaretz
Last update - 03:40 26/08/2008
Lebanon's eastern border with Syria is wide open to smugglers, according to a report submitted to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday by a task force he appointed to study the issue. The report harshly criticizes both Lebanon and Syria, saying there has been no improvement over the past year despite promises by both countries to address the issue. Israel has long claimed that weapons from Iran and Syria flow freely across this border to Hezbollah, despite the embargo on such shipments imposed by Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006. This smuggling, Israel says, has given Hezbollah an arsenal that is both qualitatively and quantitatively superior to what it had before that war, and may even include sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles.
In addition, Hezbollah has built a network of sophisticated underground bunkers in some 150 villages throughout south Lebanon in recent months. These bunkers can hold up to 15 fighters, plus rockets and rocket launchers, and in the event of war with Israel, could serve either as missile-launching bases or as ambushes for Israeli ground troops. Neither the UN forces in Lebanon nor the Lebanese Army has done anything to stop construction of these bunkers.
The task force, appointed about 18 months ago, published a previous report in June 2007, which said that neither Syria nor Lebanon was doing anything to stop the smuggling. The current report reiterates this conclusion. At the official border crossings, it said, the equipment is outdated, the personnel are poorly trained, and the inspections are inadequate to detect smuggling. There are also several well-known unofficial border crossings, which is where much of the smuggling occurs, and the task force found no impediments to reaching these locations. At Lebanon's airport and ports, it added, the situation is better, but still unsatisfactory.

Siniora says all parties committed to adopting electoral law inked in Doha
By Hussein Abdallah -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on Monday that all Lebanese parties were committed to implementing what was agreed on in Doha last May regarding the drafting of a new electoral law for next year's parliamentary elections. "All parties are committed to implementing the Doha Agreement in this regard, but it is left for Parliament to decide whether to adopt the law at once or do that in different stages," Siniora told reporters after meeting President Michel Sleiman at the presidential palace. Parliament is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss drafting the new electoral law amid conflicting opinions on whether Parliament should adopt the law on Tuesday or wait for further reforms. Rival Lebanese parties agreed in Doha last May to adopt an amended version of the qada-based 1960 electoral law for the 2009 elections, but a parliamentary committee is still studying the possibility of adding a number of reforms to the electoral law. Among such reforms are allowing Lebanese emigrants to vote and lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.
The Administration and Justice Committee, which is in charge of studying the needed reforms, met on Monday and asked the Cabinet to provide the Interior Ministry with the necessary funds that would allow it to start its logistical preparations for next year's elections.
MP Robert Ghanem, who heads the committee, told reporters after the meeting that he was not in favor of adopting the new law without the reforms.
"The committee will be done studying the reforms in three weeks ... this way, Parliament will vote on the law and the reforms altogether instead of adopting the law first and postponing the reforms to a later stage," Ghanem said.
However MP Nawar al-Sahili, also a committee member, told reporters that he supported adopting the new law on Tuesday ahead of introducing the reforms at a later stage. Meanwhile, a source close to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri told The Daily Star on Monday that the scheduled debate on drafting the new electoral law in Tuesday's Parliament session was "pointless." "We have a draft proposal by MP Amin Sherri; asking Parliament to adopt the new electoral law ... the speaker will simply present the proposal to vote and lawmakers will decide the fate of this proposal," the source said.
"If the majority of lawmakers decide to approve the proposal, Parliament will ratify the new electoral law ... otherwise, the entire issue will be postponed to another session.""It makes no difference if Parliament adopts the law first and the reforms at a later stage or adopts both the law and the reforms in one session ... both scenarios will yield the same result," the source added.
Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun said Monday that Parliament must adopt the new electoral law in Tuesday's session. "The new electoral law should be adopted tomorrow ... [delaying] this should be out of question," he said after a meeting of his Reform at Change bloc at his residence in Rabieh."I don't understand why some are hesitant about adopting the new law, which was approved by 14 people in Doha," he added, referring to the Doha conference last May. "The issue of introducing reforms should not be used as an excuse for not ratifying the law tomorrow," he added.
Responding to critics of his southern tour on Sunday, Aoun said that the criticism against him was driven by "jealousy."
"I advise the critics of my southern tour to go ahead and visit the South ... it would be a chance to see if they will be welcomed or not," he said, referring to rival March 14 politicians. Regarding the appointment of a new army chief, Aoun said the issue should be left for the president to decide. "The president was a former army chief and he can deal with this issue."
The Cabinet is expected to deal with a number of security and administrative appointments in its next session, scheduled for Thursday.
Aoun said his bloc was willing to address the issue of deputy premier's privileges through a draft law that will be presented to Parliament. "Like any other institution, the Cabinet should have internal regulations that organize its functioning," he said. "The post of deputy premier is not recognized by the Constitution, but yet it remains to be a customary post ... this has been the case for years," he added. Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abu Jamra, a comrade of Aoun, was quoted as saying earlier that he may erect a tent in front of the Grand Serail to protest Siniora's denying him an office inside the government headquarters.
Last week, Aoun demanded that the deputy premier be given more constitutional privileges. The remarks sparked a debate between rival MPs.
Meanwhile, Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh accused the March 14 alliance on Monday of not wanting to adopt the new electoral law. "It seems that the new law does not suit some politicians within the March 14 camp," he said. "Even some reforms, such as lowering the voting age to 18, are not in their advantage," he said. Meanwhile, Future Movement MPs Ammar Houri and Ahmad Fatfat said on Monday that the parliamentary majority was not willing to adopt the new law without the reforms.
Army restores calm after beirut clashes
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army took control of Mohammad al-Hout Street in the Ras al-Nabah neighborhood late Monday after a clash erupted in the area. Local media reported that the clashes erupted between supporters of the rival Amal and Future Movement over Amal's erection of posters in the neighborhood. - The Daily Star

Jumblatt says Israel is serious threat to United Nations Resolution 1701
By Maher Zeineddine -Daily Star correspondent
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt spoke on Monday of Israel's inability to learn from its military defeat in Lebanon during the summer 2006 war, saying the Jewish state posed a serious threat to UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1701.
The UN Security Council passed the resolution in August 2006 to end 34 days of fighting between Israel and Lebanon.
Writing in his weekly column for the PSP's weekly newpspaer Al-Anbaa, Jumblatt said that in the event of an Israeli invasion, the Lebanese would not surrender. Such a violation would be a direct breach of UNSCR 1701, Jumblatt added.
In a thinly-veiled reference to Hizbullah, Jumblatt said that there was information on "the desire of certain security institutions to purchase aircraft, helicopters and naval vessels."
"What is the purpose of this institution's purchase of the planes, helicopters and warships? Will we reach the stage whereby we have one official and one unofficial army and where we cannot decide which one to preserve?" he asked.
The PSP leader also urged all Lebanese political parties to work on implementing the Doha accord, principally regarding a national defense strategy, which will be discussed at the upcoming national dialogue.
In his column, Jumblatt also criticized the "historical" visit of Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Michel Aoun to South Lebanon on Sunday. According to Jumblatt, Aoun wished he possessed arms "similar to the resistance's weapons in order to confront Israeli violations."
Jumblatt sarcastically asked Aoun what he told the people of the South, whom he said had occupied Aoun's hometown of Jezzine on four occasions and who had formed an armed group to defend the area while under Israeli occupation.
On Sunday, Aoun visited a number of areas in South Lebanon, describing the visit as his first to the area in 32 years. In Jezzine, Aoun urged voters to "give your votes to the candidates who best deserved them."

Saniora Responds to Aoun
Naharnet/Premier Fouad Saniora on Monday said any official can propose a bill to the cabinet, which has the right to accept or reject it.
Saniora, talking to reporters after talks with President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace, was responding to a pledge by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun that his parliamentary bloc would propose a bill to define the powers of deputy premier.
Saniora, in answering questions about electoral constituencies, said it is up to parliament to decide on this issue.
"Whatever has been agreed on in Doha would be applied," Saniora stressed.
Beirut, 25 Aug 08, 21:50

The danger of viewing Syria through the prism of Lebanon
By The Daily Star -Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Editorial
It is hard to say whether French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's loud declarations of support for Lebanon during his visit to the country this week should make the Lebanese beam with pride or cringe in fear. On the one hand, Kouchner stood firmly in Lebanon's corner by making it clear to Syria that Paris' future relations with Damascus would depend on the latter's relations with Beirut. But on the other hand, there is an inherent danger in impressing upon the Syrians that their interests are being viewed through the prism of Lebanon, as this induces the line of thinking that meddling in their neighbor's affairs could enable Damascus to manage its relations with Paris.
The coupling the two agendas might work were it not for the fact that Lebanon's new political order, which seeks to unify its multiple feuding players, still lacks coherence. The country may have averted disintegration after the Doha agreement, but it has not yet emerged from the multiple crises that brought Lebanese leaders to the Qatari capital. Add to that the fact that the Syrians are in an ambitious mood these days, and are asserting themselves with Russian backing in the wake of the crisis in Georgia, and you just might have a recipe for renewed troublemaking. Kouchner's comments could easily translate into an incentive for Damascus to disentangle the newly created and not-yet-stable Lebanese order.
There is also a concern that Kouchner's remarks represent another example of France's overeager but underperforming diplomacy in Lebanon. French President Nicholas Sarkozy launched his first "bold" Lebanon initiative shortly after being elected in July 2007, when he hosted feuding Lebanese leaders in La-Celle Saint Cloud for fence-mending talks. The meeting may have succeeded in temporarily generating a flattering media buzz for the French host, but it failed to end the impasse in Lebanon, largely because it lacked a clear agenda.
Instead of employing megaphone-style Sarkozian diplomacy, France might be more helpful to Lebanon if it plays a more practical and quiet role. A behind-the-scenes approach might prove more efficient in actually resolving prickly issues, such as the ongoing dispute over the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, for example. There is an opportunity for France to help liberate the Lebanese territory by secretly mediating a resolution between Lebanon, Syria and Israel, much like the UN-appointed German broker quietly negotiated a Hizbullah-Israel prisoner swap. Such an approach would not win Sarkozy or Kouchner the instant recognition they might seek with their bold and energetic diplomacy. But it just might prove more effective in the long term.

Syria-Israel talks focused on border: Moualem
Mon Aug 25, 2008
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel are focused on the thorny issue of how much Syrian territory is under Israeli occupation, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said on Monday.
In the first official comment on the content of the talks, which began in May under Turkish mediation, Moualem said the two sides were seeking agreement on land Syria controlled before Israel occupied the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war.
"We feel that the two sides are serious about solving the lingering issues that are being discussed. Foremost is determination of the June 4, 1967 line," Moualem told reporters after meeting his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner.
Nearly a decade of U.S.-supervised negotiations between Syria and Israel collapsed in 2000 over the extent of a proposed Israeli withdrawal from the Golan, a water-rich plateau.
Syria argued then that it was in control before the 1967 war of parts of the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, on the edge of the Golan, and that these parts should be returned to Syria.
Israel captured the whole eastern shore along with the surrounding plateau in the war. The shoreline has since receded.
Moualem would not be drawn on the exact territorial lines Syria considers its borders. Control of the shoreline has been a major point of contention between the two sides, especially as Israel uses the lake as its main reservoir.
The late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, father of the current president, seeking to prove the land belonged to Syria, told former U.S. President Bill Clinton he used to swim in the Sea of Galilee before 1967. He refused to sign a deal he considered fell short of liberating the whole of the Golan
President Bashar al-Assad, shaped by his father's struggle with the Jewish state, has said Israel must withdraw "from every inch" of the Golan.
Israel, in turn, wants Syria to cut ties with its main adversaries -- the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement.
Assad said during a visit to Moscow last week that the next round of indirect talks with Israel, expected to begin on Wednesday, could prove crucial.
Moualem said the talks, four rounds of which have been held in Turkey since May, would remain indirect for the time being.
"Unfortunately there has not been enough progress for the talks to become direct," he added.
Syrian foreign policy has focused on the Golan since its forced withdrawal of troops from Lebanon in 2005 after 29 years. The talks with Israel have helped Syria start to re-engage with the West after years of isolation over its role in Lebanon.
France's Kouchner said on Monday he was "content" that Syria would exchange ambassadors with Lebanon before the end of the year after Assad and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman made a joint announcement on opening diplomatic ties this month.
France has led European efforts to persuade Damascus to establish normal sovereign relations with its smaller neighbor, including the first formal diplomatic ties since the two states were carved out of the old Ottoman Empire in 1920.(Editing by Catherine Evans)

Group campaigning for electoral reform to open doors to public
Activists say much progress has been made on changes
By Dalila Mahdawi -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
BEIRUT: The Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform (CCER) opened its doors to the public on Thursday and Friday "to provide an update on the latest developments on electoral issues."
CCER, which describes itself as the "leading citizens' movement advocating for electoral reform," is a coalition of 61 Lebanese civil society organizations led by the Lebanese Transparency Association, the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies and the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections.
Its mandate is to "transform the electoral culture in Lebanon by promoting a law that guarantees open, democratic and participatory elections, and to create opportunities for Lebanese citizens to lead change."
CCER has been working to pass a new electoral law that includes a number of key reforms, namely to establish an independent electoral commission to administer parliamentary elections, to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, to give Lebanese emigrants the right to vote and to stipulate a 30 percent women's quota on electoral lists. It also seeks to regulate media coverage of election campaigns, provide disabled persons easy access to polling stations, regulate campaign financing to guarantee equal competition between candidates, and to hold national elections on one day.
Doreen Khoury, political research officer at CCER, told The Daily Star on Monday that the efforts of the coalition to push for those reforms in the ongoing Justice and Administration Parliamentary Committee meetings "had more or less been positive."
"Before June 23, the committee had only met four times, but since then it has met over ten times" to discuss the reforms. However, said Khoury, "we are already late in these reforms - they should have been made one or two years ago."
CCER has a representative at the committee debates who provides "technical advice on the reforms," said Khoury. "Basically CCER is providing MPs with information to tell them that, 'Yes, we can implement these reforms and this is how we do it.'"
The committee has already approved the establishing of an independent electoral commission, regulating of campaign financing and lowering of the voting age.
However, said Khoury, "there is simply not enough time" to set up an independent electoral commission before the 2009 spring elections, "so the Justice and Interior Ministries will, in one form or another, supervise" them next year. The independent commission should be ready for the 2010 municipal elections, added Khoury.
"Reforms like holding elections in one day" were still pending, said Khoury, adding that 14,000 troops from the Internal Security Forces were needed in order to manage that. "We are still waiting to hear from [ISF chief] Ashraf Rifi on whether this is possible or not. If it isn't, elections will be held over a Saturday and Sunday" period, she said.
The quota stipulating women would have a 30 percent presence in candidacy lists would also not pass "this time around," said Khoury. "With the return of the 1960 electoral law [based on 25 county electoral districts], having a quota for women is no longer feasible, as you already have a sectarian quota" in place, she added.
"This issue remains a big demand of CCER, but for now the best thing we can do is to encourage as many women as possible to run" in the elections, Khoury said.
Khoury remained optimistic about the success of CCER's reform efforts. "If you compare what was being said about electoral reform one year ago to what is being said today, so much progress has been made," said Khoury. "We are talking about real reform now, and this is basically due to the efforts of CCER to lobby MPs."
However, said Khoury, "Our efforts are not yet over. The committee will finish its work soon and will submit the draft electoral law to Speaker Nabih Berri, who will put it on the parliamentary agenda for the general assembly to vote on article by article."
"Until the Ministry of Interior gets the green light to implement these reforms, there is still a lot of lobbying to be done inside and outside of the Justice and Administration Parliamentary Committee," she said.
Once the electoral reforms have been decided, CCER "will work with political parties, provide technical workshops," and eventually, observe the elections, said Khoury. "Voter education" would be of major importance, she said, as "the make-up of voting stations" and ballots will have changed.
CCER, under the patronage of Bhamdoun Municipality, will on Friday host an open-air town hall meeting in the Square of the Saint George Greek Orthodox Church to discuss electoral reform.