Conflict Incident Report

BEIRUT: Activists from civil society organization Parliament For Everybody protested outside Baabda Palace as a Cabinet session chaired by President Michel Aoun went underway to discuss the country's new electoral law.

Protesters carried signs that read "we want our voices back," and "those who want a new law and elections wouldn't leave discussions until the last moment".

"We are here to remind them [ministers] that their primary objective was to agree on a new electoral law," an activist told local media. "They have done just about everything but that."

He added that the government is "not legitimate" as a result of Parliament's two previous term extensions.

"Stop postponing, agree on a fair electoral law, and don't add anymore term extensions, technical or otherwise," he said.

Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk confirmed that there would be a "technical delay" to the parliamentary elections, adding that there will be a new electoral law applied at the upcoming polls slated for June.

Speaker Nabih Berri expects the "technical delay" to last no longer than six months after an agreement is made.

Parliamentary elections were originally scheduled to take place between May 21 and June 21, but political deadlock is expected to delay elections beyond June.

Rivals remain at odds on the shape of the new voting system, which would replace the current 1960 majoritarian system. Parties are deeply divided between the adoption of a proportional vote law and a hybrid electoral law, which combines aspects of the proportional and majoritarian voting systems.