Conflict Incident Report

BEIRUT: Protesters Saturday converged on the Nejmeh Square in Beirut’s Downtown to demand timely parliamentary elections based on a new electoral law.

The symbolic demonstrations were organized by the Kataeb Party youth and joined by the National Liberal Party and the Lebanese Communist Party.

Demonstrators held mostly the Lebanese flags with some political insignia.

Kataeb politburo member Elias Hankach called on all the Lebanese who believed in their right to vote and to have a new voting system to join the rally en masse.

“This is the first act in a series of moves to press politicians to reach an agreement,” Hankach told Al-Jadeed channel.

He blasted politicians, who publicly reject the 1960 majoritarian electoral law, for delaying the adoption of a new vote law.

“Our aim is to raise our voice,” Hankach said, adding that the Kataeb “will not despair and will continue to demand the burial of the 1960 [electoral law] and the adoption of a fair vote law.”

The Kataeb member said that the party was seeking to “break [politicians’] shared division.”

“We will have one result, whether they [rivals] keep the 1960, adopt a new vote law detailed to serve them, or delay the elections.”

Protesters began rallying near Samir Kassir Square in Downtown before marching towards the Parliament in the nearby Nejmeh Square.

Some carried banners reading: "No for extension."

Police and security forces deployed heavily in the area to maintain calm at the rally.

A bus was patrolling the area covered with Lebanese flags, with organizers using it as a symbol for the 1960 law.

All parties recognize that the pressure is on to reach a consensus regarding the electoral law, as the Feb. 21 deadline looms.

Although nearly all parliamentary blocs have declared their opposition to the disputed 1960 majoritarian electoral law, their failure to agree on a new voting formula raises the possibility of either a technical delay of the elections, scheduled for May 21, or the country being plunged into a parliamentary vacuum, according to some politicians.

Elections were postponed twice in 2013 and 2014 citing security concerns.