Lebanon Parliament Passes New Election Law

Source: Al-Manar TV, 30-9-2008
Lebanon's parliament on Monday approved a new election law agreed under a deal that ended a deep political crisis, Lebanese media reported.
The law, which will adjust voting districts in line with the Qatari-mediated agreement, will be used as the basis for parliamentary elections next year. Parliament, which approved the law, an amended version of the 1960 qada-based electoral law, at an evening session, introduced minor changes to an earlier draft, Lebanese radio and television stations reported.
Approval of the law marks the last major component of the Doha agreement which ended 18 months of political wrangling between the Western-backed loyalty bloc and the opposition.
The morning session was put off when MPs began discussing the possibility of using pre-printed ballots in the elections.
Pre-printed ballots would include the names and photos of candidates as voters would be asked to circle the names of their favorite candidates instead of using random ballots which are usually distributed by partisans of different parties.
However, the proposal failed to gain the needed votes of MPs to pass.
While the former law banned all forms of media publicity, the new law came to regulate the role of the media by setting a number of rules and conditions aimed at preventing media outlets from reflecting negatively on election results.
Among such rules is committing the broadcast media to give all candidates equal chances to publicize themselves and market their electoral programs.
Broadcast media must also commit to a "day of silence," which starts at midnight ahead of election day and ends as soon as people finish casting their votes in the evening.
Three types of sanctions could be imposed on television stations and candidates who violate these regulations.
The sanctions range from financial penalties to possibly forcing violating stations to stop broadcasting for three days.
As far as expenditures are concerned, Parliament decided that fixed costs per candidate should not exceed 150 million Lebanese pounds, whereas variable costs, such as transportation expenses to take voters to the ballot boxes, were not specified.