Berri: Lowering voting age to 18 is "a gift to Lebanese youth"

 
Source: nowlebanon.com, 20-03-2009

An-Nahar newspaper reported on Friday that Speaker Nabih Berri said that ratifying the law to lower the voting age to 18 was a "gift from the current parliament to the Lebanese youth, and at the same time from the youth to the next parliaments."

He acknowledged that Lebanon and its parliament needed "this young spirit, which supported the liberation of the South from the ‘Israeli' occupation and which is looking forward to the launching of the [new] political system."

Berri also said that the month of "March, through this positive step, is no longer considered a division between 14 and 8," a reference to Lebanon's two opposing parties: the (US backed) March 14 alliance and the March 8 coalition. "The issue urges the Lebanese youth to ensure unity and pave the way for a new country," he concluded.